Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-09-22-Speech-3-010"
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"en.20100922.3.3-010"2
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"Mr Buzek, Mr Van Rompuy, Mr Šefčovič, ladies and gentlemen, the European Council has discussed the Union’s relations with its global partners and economic governance. Above all, however, public opinion has been interested in the debate on the Roma. I want to repeat the position of my group on this point.
I am thinking here of our human resources, which must be rationalised, and the external service is a first step in the right direction. Finally, I am thinking of our financial resources, particularly in the areas of security and defence, which must be better spent, and this requires us to make greater efforts to pool resources. We are far from achieving that – very far. I would encourage the Member States, in the coming months, to implement at least some of the objectives contained in these conclusions.
On economic governance, finally, my group is in favour of the initial action taken by the Van Rompuy task force and, in particular, the rigorous application of the rules of the Stability Pact along with the deterrent of sanctions. We must learn the lessons from the financial crisis and from the illusions we deluded ourselves with by dividing up financial governance and economic and social governance. The two have to be linked.
First, each Member State must respect European law, and the European Commission, the guardian of the treaties, must make sure of this in the most impartial way possible. All the Member States of the Union are equal before the law. That is Europe’s strength. In these conditions, we respect the decision of the Commission to ask for clarifications from France on the measures that it has taken, and we do not doubt that France will respond with the greatest care.
Second, the Group of the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats) regrets the linguistic gaps that have emerged because of this affair, and hopes that, on such an emblematic subject, the values of responsibility and solidarity that are conveyed by the European Union, as well as impartiality and mutual respect, will continue to be the code of conduct in relations between the Member States and the European institutions.
Finally, my group once again calls for European solutions – Community solutions – to be defined and implemented in order to integrate all the minorities in Europe, because, as we well know, the current crisis has revealed a deep unrest in relations between these minorities and the populations in their host countries.
Ladies and gentlemen, while all of our fellow citizens must be able to enjoy their rights, they must also observe their obligations. Yes, the movement of people is a right, and this Parliament has argued for it too much to give any of it away today. On the other hand, respecting the law, integrating into your host country, registering your children in school, making sure they attend, and respecting the welfare of others are also obligations from which nothing, absolutely nothing, must be taken away.
That is the issue, and that is the position of the PPE Group, a position which is founded on principles and values, and which goes beyond the partisan criticism which, I have to say, some have indulged in these last few days.
I have two minutes left to address two subjects – crucial ones, however – which were discussed at the European Council last Friday: our place in the world and economic governance.
On the first point, how can we accept any longer the fact that, although Europe is one of the principal global powers, perhaps the most respected in its approach to human rights and multilateralism, it no longer holds any weight on the global stage? I repeat: we are the biggest donors to Palestine, but we are not at the negotiating table. Mr Van Rompuy, we have to make sure that this changes.
The Council’s conclusions contain some interesting avenues of exploration, but, as we know, we need a real review of our modus operandi in order to make the quantum leap expected. I am thinking here of the political will to exert influence as a single force, rather than as an aggregation of 27 contradictory diplomacies. That is, the Community method; and on this, Mr Van Rompuy, we are counting on you. This is not a bad word; it is a way of making the European Union powerful and recognised in the world."@en1
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