Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-03-23-Speech-3-073-000"
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"en.20110323.17.3-073-000"2
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"Madam President, I would first like to offer my good wishes to President Barroso. He is an Aries like me and like Marielle de Sarnez and Joseph Daul. I have a band of Aries around me here; however, we all have something to say about the pact for Europe, President Barroso.
I ask Baroness Ashton to come to the next part-session and explain what attitudes and strategies we intend to pursue in Bahrain, in Syria and in Yemen and what sanctions we intend to introduce and with whom. This is the stand we should be taking, rather than the pathetic stand that many European leaders have taken so far in this business.
Quite seriously, whilst it is good that everyone now agrees that we need an economic union and real economic governance, we have to ask the crucial question: will the pact for Europe really create economic union? Will this pact really create economic governance?
I really do not think it will, for the simple reason that the Commission is not leading the process: it is still the Member States. These are not my words. I have here the text of 11 March, which will be approved tomorrow and the day after. What does it say? It says that the objectives will be decided on by the Heads of State or Government, the undertakings will be made by the Heads of State or Government and the monitoring will be carried out by the Heads of State or Government. In fact the Commission will only be involved in technical monitoring, nothing else. The Council holds all the power. This is what defeated the Lisbon Strategy and it will defeat this strategy also.
President Barroso, let me ask you once more: this weekend, what is going to be approved will be approved, but please get together with Mr Rehn as quickly as possible to prepare a real economic governance plan based on a Community act that gives all the power to the Commission and is based on a code for convergence, and put it on the Council’s table. I know they will say no. They always say no. But carry on the fight with us and do not accept this procedure or the proposal that is on the table for the time being, as it will not do the job and will not stabilise the euro in the coming months or years. This is the first thing I wanted to say.
The second thing I wanted to say, Madam President, concerns the Arab revolts and the follow-up of the discussion that we had here a week ago. Right now, we can make an initial assessment of the EU’s action, and I have to say that this initial assessment is somewhat lukewarm. In the first place, you will recall that in the beginning we were not very keen on talking about these Arab revolts, out of fear of Islam fundamentalism. This was our first reaction in the EU bodies.
Now, in the Libyan affair we have demonstrated the European Union’s lack of unity. I find it appalling that all the EU Member States did not adopt the same position in the UN Security Council: three voted in favour and one abstained. This goes against the Treaty of Lisbon. Article 34 of the Treaty states that on bodies discussing foreign policy, European Union Member States have the duty to coordinate among themselves and reach a joint standpoint. Did they do this? I do not think so and I believe they even violated Article 34 of the Treaty.
Thirdly, look at what we are witnessing now. Yesterday, Baroness Ashton appeared before the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and I think she ought to be here today also, when we are discussing such an important issue. Personally, I see a lack of strategy on the EU’s part in relation to the Arab revolutions. Some outrageous decisions have been made within the EU institutions.
For example, on Monday before the Committee on Foreign Affairs, one of Baroness Ashton’s colleagues Mr Cooper even said at one point that we ought to understand the situation in Bahrain and that the authorities were right to restore peace and order, when four people have been killed and two hundred injured. Is that the EU’s position?
To give you another example, the Union’s foreign ministers met in the Council on Monday and what did they say? They also called on demonstrators – in Bahrain that is – to refrain from any acts of deliberate intimidation. Therefore instead of supporting these revolutions within the European Union and supporting those who have taken to the streets and have fought and been killed, they have done exactly the opposite. They are telling them to stay calm and be careful."@en1
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