Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-10-08-Speech-4-016"
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"en.20091008.5.4-016"2
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"Mr President, the President of the Italian Republic, Giorgio Napolitano, is right to say that the European Parliament is not the place for settling disputes between political parties within Member States, or for opposing decisions taken by the national parliaments. The problem in Italy – and I believe that Mr Napolitano, the President of the Republic, is absolutely right – must first be settled in Italy.
However – and this is the problem, Mr Daul – no one can deny that there is a problem in Europe and in Italy. The problem I have with your speech is that you are denying that there is a problem.
Mr Napolitano is right. I think that you are right to also highlight what Mr Napolitano said, but it is not a good idea to say here, in this House, that there is not a problem. Why do I say that? I say that because Freedom House has recently published a study in which the countries of the world are divided into three categories of press freedom: free, partly free and not free. It should be pointed out – and I believe that this is a huge problem – that three countries, not just one, not just Italy, but also Romania and Bulgaria, have been included in the ‘partly free’ category. We are all the more concerned, really concerned, because one of the founding countries of the European Union features among those countries.
Given that we created this European Union in order to uphold, once and for all, our common values of democracy, peace and freedom, it is our duty to intervene. How? I believe that we must ask the Commission, on the basis of our treaties – and, I repeat, this is a request that has already been made – to propose a directive to safeguard the pluralism of the media. This is what must happen, and it is a competence that can be implemented with the European Parliament pursuant to the treaties. This directive should guarantee that our constitutional provisions on freedom of the media are respected fully and harmoniously in all of the countries of the European Union, and certainly in all of the countries in question.
I must also tell you, Mr President, and I will finish here, that I was very disappointed by the Commission’s speech. The Member States can all do whatever they like as long as it is compatible with their national Constitutions. That is what we heard from the Commission. I completely disagree. I protest. There are values, there are freedoms that must be defended in this House beyond national interests, beyond national Constitutions.
These are values and principles that really make the European Union what it is. I therefore call on the Commission to review its position and to propose a directive on the issue of media concentration as quickly as possible, and to do so for all of the countries of the European Union."@en1
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