Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-07-04-Speech-3-483-000"
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"en.20120704.29.3-483-000"2
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".
Mr President, Commissioner, President-in-Office of the Council, ladies and gentlemen, the discussion of Schengen has generated a lot of headlines in Europe in recent weeks. For that reason, it is good that we are discussing this matter in Parliament today. I would like to start by indicating the support of the Group of the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats) for the Commissioner in respect of the examination of the very specific detailed accusations in the European Union, and if it is found that offences have been committed at European internal borders, they should be properly investigated by the Commission, because the PPE Group wants a strong European authority that will monitor Schengen status in future.
That brings us to the real debate, which is one that, ultimately, concerns us all. With its decision on the Schengen rules, the Council was itself probably not altogether clear on what it was hoping to achieve, because it has not only set out on a path that we consider to be dubious in terms of content, it has also, by choosing a new legal basis, departed from the path of cooperation with Members of this House. The Council has also interfered in one of Europe’s most important achievements, namely the open borders.
For us, Schengen means freedom in place of borders, cooperation in place of egoism and working together instead of working against one another. The freedom to travel in Europe is the PPE Group’s top priority. The people, the economy and indeed the whole of Europe will benefit from this. We do not want the open borders, which are a visible feature of European cooperation, to be disproportionately restricted, particularly at a time when more European spirit is needed.
As the PPE Group, we want the Member States to stop doing secret deals with each other on how essential rights of their citizens are to be dealt with. This method has failed; we must focus on the Community method.
The PPE Group wants the decision making to come out of the diplomatic backrooms and the decisions on these new legal bases to be made by the elected bodies in which citizens are represented.
The PPE Group will fight to retain these rights in Europe. As far as the content is concerned, we do not see any insurmountable obstacles. The question is whether we will actually find a way forward in this process together. I have to say, Mr Mavroyiannis, that this is not the way for family members to treat each other. It destroys the spirit of European cooperation. We therefore ask the Council to return to the path of cooperation, and – as you said yourself today – more intensive contact is not enough for the European Parliament. We are legislators and we are involved in the decision, and for that reason I would ask you to withdraw your decision on the legal basis and involve Parliament as an equal legislator."@en1
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