Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-06-11-Speech-1-015-000"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20120611.10.1-015-000"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Ladies and gentlemen, last Thursday, following a brief debate, the Justice and Home Affairs Council agreed on an approach to what is known as the Schengen evaluation mechanism. That is the legislative procedure overseen in this House by Mr Coelho, as rapporteur. At the same time, the decision has provoked very intense reactions from all the groups in this House. I have been asked by pretty much all the groups in this House to pay attention to this matter. As you know, what we are dealing with here is a unilateral change to the legal basis, from Article 77 of the EU Treaty to Article 70. The subject matter is the exclusion of the European Parliament from further legislative procedures. For that reason, the Conference of Presidents – acting on behalf of the whole House – has asked the Danish Presidency for a debate at 09.00 tomorrow morning on the legal basis for the Schengen evaluation mechanism.
The Danish Minister for Justice, Morten Bødskov, will make a statement on behalf of the Council, after which all the group chairs will speak. On behalf of the Conference of Presidents, I called Mr Bødskov, as well as the current President-in-Office, Danish Prime Minister, Helle Thorning-Schmidt, and told them that the European Parliament will vigorously reject any attempt to take an axe to the fundamental freedoms of the citizens of the European Union. The European Council’s actions are completely unacceptable to the European Parliament. This evening, the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs will be discussing the matter, and the outcome of the Committee’s deliberations will certainly have a crucial role in the debate tomorrow morning.
I would also like to inform Members of the following. I sent a letter on this House’s behalf to the newly elected Serbian President, Tomislav Nikolić, congratulating him on his election. Whilst congratulating him, I also pointed out that attempts to re-write history are neither acceptable nor purposeful, especially given that it is internationally accepted – by, for example, the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia – that a genocide, a crime against humanity, took place at Srebrenica. We should remind President Nikolić that Serbia’s future is in Europe. We all share the hope that Serbia does not stray from the path to regional reconciliation, otherwise, it would be leaving the path to Europe. The President of the Republic of Serbia is well advised not to stray from that path.
On opening our plenary session today, I would like to draw your attention to the worrying situations of two of the winners of our Sakharov Prize. Ms Leyla Zana, who I met during my official visit to Turkey two weeks ago, thanked me for the European Parliament’s steadfast support and asked me to pass on her thanks to you all. Ms Zana has been convicted under Turkey’s anti-terrorism laws. Irrespective of the subject matter, we demand a fair trial. The European Parliament will be following the appeal proceedings concerning Ms Zana with great interest. I have made that absolutely clear to the Turkish authorities.
Turkey is a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights, and we expect it to adhere to the convention. Respecting freedom of opinion and of the press is even more important if Turkey wants to live up to its billing as a role model for the countries of the Arab Spring. Turkey must expect to be judged on the claims that it makes for itself internationally.
Ladies and gentlemen, I am equally shocked by the situation of another of our Sakharov laureates, Asmaa Mahfouz. She is threatened with imprisonment, and the appeal proceedings are due to begin on 17 June. In a letter to the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs, Baroness Ashton, I requested that the Head of our Delegation in Cairo be present in person at the opening of the proceedings. Ladies and gentlemen, perhaps you will recall this young lady. Ms Mahfouz was a young woman who expressed her faith by wearing her headscarf as she addressed us here, while defending the civil values on which this European Union of ours is built in a lively and passionate speech. Rarely in this House have I seen as impressive a fighter for the cause of democracy as Ms Mahfouz. For her work, she is now threatened with imprisonment in Egypt. I believe that it is the responsibility of the European Parliament to say to the Egyptians that people like Ms Mahfouz are the future of their country, and that they should be promoting them rather than locking them up."@en1
|
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata | |
| lpv:videoURI |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples