Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-12-14-Speech-3-367-000"
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"en.20111214.26.3-367-000"2
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"Madam President, I look forward to negotiating with the Commission. That will be a first, so let us meet soon.
I would just like to address some of the points. We actually enshrine the concept of a space to think; we do not diminish it. We actually enshrine the concept of classified documents, Mr Pirker, so it is absolutely clear that documents that are restricted, classified or confidential cannot be made public. Equally, we deal with the issue of documents coming from Member States. Member States would like to have a veto so that they cannot be placed in the public domain, whereas there are cases where they should be, such as documents in competition law proceedings and for businesses. I believe that if Articles 4(2) and 4(7) of the current regulation are used appropriately, then there are sufficient guarantees for competition cases and for businesses.
This approach is not about unrestricted access. We have to be clear about definitions, clear when documents cannot be made accessible, and equally clear when they can. We must reflect the jurisprudence that has been handed down, and we must balance data protection and privacy.
Let me say that it is entirely wrong to say that privacy and personnel maters will not be respected. They are absolutely respected and the data protection supervisor says that in our report, we have got the balance absolutely right. I would remind you that there is also a directive on data protection which cannot be overridden here. There is also the Members’ Statute about political meetings, about the conduct of MEPs and about personnel which cannot be overridden within this regulation.
It is either mischief or it is ignorance that causes people to propose such suggestions. Can we please stop treating our citizens, and indeed the NGOs that represent them, as children? They want to be engaged in the political process, and if they do not know what we are doing in their name, and what the Commission and the Council is doing, how on earth can we call ourselves ‘democratic’? Democracy is based on openness and accountability and, if we can only negotiate in secret, where is the democracy in that?
We negotiate on the basis of principle and on what we wish to actually defend for our citizens and indeed our political parties. If we can only do that in secrecy, I am not one of those politicians and I do not belong to one of those political parties that concur.
You can criticise this but, Ms Sommer, I have begged you time and time again to work with me and to bring forward compromises, but comprises came there none. Where there are problems, I am happy to address them on behalf of the entire Parliament because the brilliant thing is that whether this gets voted through or not tomorrow is neither here nor there. Whether the Commission accepts this is irrelevant. Whether the Council negotiates on this is irrelevant, because what you cannot do, which is what the Commission and indeed the Council are trying to do, is to diminish the rights they gave to citizens in 2001. So even if we reject the entire proposal, the rights that were enshrined in 2001 under the Swedish Presidency will remain.
I think I have covered most of the points. Can I say that inflexibility in democracy is actually a weakness. Flexibility is a strength, and we show that in our committees when we negotiate with one another and we reach compromises. Thank you, Ms Macovei, thank you, Ms Bildt, for your constructive comments. I would say to Nikki Sinclaire that the Labour government actually supported these measures in 2001 in Council and the Labour government continued to do so while it was in office. If we are pro-European, let us actually get rid of the secrecy because then it is much more difficult to misrepresent the truth."@en1
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