Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-01-17-Speech-1-034-000"
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"en.20110117.11.1-034-000"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, we share the concerns about what is happening in Tunisia and express our sadness about the many people who have lost their lives during the protests.
There is reason to hope that the tragic and bitter lesson being imparted by Tunisia can serve to give all of us a better understanding of what is worth doing and what is worth changing in terms of Europe’s actions.
The new and confused situation that began after the flight of former president, Mr Ben Ali, must now lead to the objective that many have asked for: the start of economic and social reforms to match the expectations of the vast majority of the population and the opening up of democratic forums, to ensure that civil society and the various opposition forces are increasingly involved in public life and in government.
Obviously, all countries have the right to determine their own path, but we are keen for these reforms to be carried out and for the changes to be real and not merely window dressing. What is happening in Tunisia at the moment poses questions for all of us and poses questions for Europe, with all its delays and mistakes.
In 1995, the European Union launched the partnership programme with the Mediterranean in Barcelona. This was supposed to include economic, political, military and even social and human cooperation, but not even in the two key objectives has this been achieved. In terms of the economy, there has been a drastic reduction in regional and infrastructural projects because the funds never arrived from Member States and those from the Commission remain in standby. The promised free trade zone does not exist, but the most obvious failure is on the political level, and we need to be fully aware of this, Commissioner.
The Union for the Mediterranean was launched in 2008, but remains a façade. The summit that was supposed to be held in November 2010 has been postponed indefinitely. The problem is that the various European governments are not interested and do not see any interest in real cooperation. They prefer to maintain relationships with questionable regimes that are wedded to the defence of their undemocratically managed national resources, whilst millions of young people live without any future prospects but emigration, which is increasingly difficult.
It is no great surprise then that, spurred on by the economic and social crisis, the protests in Tunisia have turned into a tidal wave capable of having a heavy impact on the existing power structure. European political realism is no longer useful as a result of the fear of Islamic fundamentalism, and perhaps the time has come to finally shelve that post-colonial attitude that tends to re-emerge every now and then in relations with north African countries.
Indeed, taking Barcelona as a starting point, Europe needs a new vision of its southern reaches and the Mediterranean, which must be more credible than in the past. This implies a complete overhaul of the partnership and neighbourhood policies that have been followed thus far, and I would insist that you attend to this, Commissioner. We cannot hide the fact that both the Commission and the Council were even ready to start discussions with Tunisia for an advanced status agreement. On the basis of what criteria it was thought that all this was possible is still to be explained.
We need to change tack – change gear – and we are telling the Commission and the Council that this can be achieved by showing more conviction in giving Parliament a role in the elaboration and application of a new idea of partnership with the countries of the Mediterranean. All of this is not solely in the interest of these countries but is, above all, in the interest of Europe.
Many of the problems that Europe appears to have can only be tackled and resolved by a productive and virtuous relationship with all the Maghreb countries. Supporting economic and democratic reforms, as well as simultaneously deploying all the necessary antidotes to fundamentalism and terrorism, is a difficult road but is the only one to take."@en1
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