Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-02-09-Speech-2-098"
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"en.20100209.7.2-098"2
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"Mr President, after the fairytale that you have just heard, I would like to return to reality. My son is seventeen years old and is studying English very intensively, because he knows that English is the working language, and he hopes that it will help him to get an appropriate job. He is an enthusiastic European, but is dissatisfied with European politics – and rightly so. In Germany, the magazine
is already writing about widespread political contempt – and rightly so. Nevertheless, millions of young Europeans want a functional, competent and bold democracy in the 21st century. Yet, what are we being offered here today by the Commission? Are these the competent people – and the best people – that we need?
Those of us up here in the back row represent an independent group of citizens who have played a key role in ensuring that the right-wing radicals in this House do not set up a group once again. We are passionate pro-Europeans, but this is precisely why we are extremely disappointed by the people that you have presented us with and by the quality of these people. Would we employ an assistant here who becomes a laughing stock like Günther Oettinger has done on YouTube in ‘Oettinger talking English’? Presumably not. From the point of view of competence, would we want to deal with an Austrian Commissioner who has not proven himself at all in his area.
Mr Barroso, there are very many experienced parliamentarians here in Parliament that you could adorn yourself with. You have one of them, for example, in the shape of the Swede, that is true. Yet, why do you not want Mr Karas? Why have you not taken a German from here, instead of the ones you have? Because you are not allowed to. Because, despite the Treaty of Lisbon, we are still restrained, because we are still not so independent that we can make sovereign decisions – you cannot and neither can we as Parliament.
Unfortunately, we are also still not allowed to elect individual commissioners. That is a type of democracy that we had in Austria in the 19th century. It is not appropriate for the Europe that we need, of which we dream. Please take heed: if you continue in this way, you will be playing into the hands of the nationalists and, indeed, the opponents of the EU. Instead, we need more democracy."@en1
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