Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-01-17-Speech-2-026-000"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20120117.4.2-026-000"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, Mr Schulz, today, I have the difficult task of standing in for our chair, Mr Lothar Bisky. I am pleased that I have been entrusted with this and that I am, therefore, speaking on his behalf when I, first of all, warmly congratulate you on being elected President. You have achieved a majority in a single round of voting. However, I would also like to extend the warmest thanks to the candidates who stood against you for providing a counterbalance. They have done their very best and I hope that, in the future, we will have many more such occasions where people are willing to stand for President. Personally, I find it rather unfortunate that you are not a woman, but we simply cannot do anything about that now. I hope that you will show your feminine side every now and then.
A lot of Members have voted for you. I am sure that many Members did that with your best interests at heart, but I am equally sure that there are also some Members who thought: let us give Mr Schulz a run for his money. To put it more plainly, you have been elected at a very tough and difficult time, at a time of crisis. I believe that the European Parliament has a very big role to play in this economic and social crisis. We are, in fact, the only institution directly elected by the citizens. At the present time, the citizens are afraid of losing their jobs and pensions, they are concerned about the affordability of health care, about their provision for retirement, but also about the future of their children. My hope is that those citizens are the very people you are planning to give a voice to. That is what I am asking you to do. I am aware that in many bodies of the European Parliament, money and large interests often play the greatest role. Yet those citizens are the people we are actually here to represent.
A lot of agreements are struck behind closed doors, where the public cannot see the negotiation process. I hope that you will ensure that that process becomes more transparent, but also that, during that process, you will articulate the full variety of views of the groups in the European Parliament, both large and small. You are, after all, the President of us all. We from the Confederal Group of the European United Left – Nordic Green Left will call you thoroughly to account in that regard and I wish you great reserves of wisdom in the coming period."@en1
|
| lpv:videoURI |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples