Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-06-12-Speech-2-383-000"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20120612.18.2-383-000"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Madam President, Baroness Ashton, I should like to begin by saying that I was not very satisfied by the answers you gave regarding the questions during our previous debate on the Special Representative. The full title of the Special Representative – Special Representative of the European Union – shows that they are not the special representative of the External Action Service or the special representative of the Council, and nor are they your special representative or personal representative. If they are a Special Representative of the European Union, they must be accountable to the EU institutions and be a special representative for the Union. That is my constitutional reading on the basis of the Treaties and if, as you told us, High Representative, it is already laid down in the Treaties that they will be accountable to the EU institutions, including this House, which is one of those institutions, I really cannot understand why their mandate does not include the obligation to appear before Parliament.
As regards the annual reports, I defer to my colleagues, both Mr Howitt and Mr Donskis, on the work they have been doing and their very praiseworthy work on monitoring the situation this year. I should like to add just one matter for our consideration. Last year was not just a momentous year in human rights terms; it was also a very important year for the European Union: it was the year when the European Union was at its weakest in terms of economic and political power; it was the year in which many of our Member States received representatives from China, Angola or other countries with human rights problems and asked them for money to pay their debts.
As regards the strategic aspect of reflecting on how we will act as regards human rights, it is very important that Europe starts by putting its house in order and by thinking it is necessary, not just to imagine a better world, but also to come up with a more streamlined way of acting in terms of external policy. Clearly, one of the most important things – and here I am returning to the start of my speech – has to do with cooperation between our institutions, which should be reliable, documented and structured."@en1
|
| lpv:videoURI |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples