Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2016-07-05-Speech-2-037-000"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20160705.3.2-037-000"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spoken text |
"Mr President, Winston Churchill once said that when the eagles are silent, the parrots begin to jabber. Thankfully, last Tuesday and Wednesday the eagles – the Heads of Government – spoke. Cooler and calmer heads began to prevail, drowning out the parrots. And, while the Council does not want to live in limbo forever, it is right that EU leaders are saying they must respect the Treaties and respect the right of the British Government to decide how best to respond.
In the EU it is for the respective national governments to decide how best to respond to a national referendum. This is the case even now, where the Netherlands has been given the space to decide its response to its referendum in March. The Treaties are clear, and if anyone does not like what the Lisbon Treaty says, then blame the authors and the signatories. Who knows, maybe one or two of them are in this Chamber here today!
Some here are quick to point the finger at others and accuse them of breaching the rule of law, while at the same time casting aside our own rules and precedents when it does not suit the majority: ganging up on political groups they do not agree with to deny them committee positions or responsibility for reports that they are entitled to under the D’Hondt system; or interfering in the internal affairs of Member States where they do not like the democratically elected government of that country. The more that Commissioners, the European Parliament and international leaders try to pressure the UK, the more they justify the decision that the British people have taken. The British referendum was just the latest wake-up call for the EU, and many rightly respond by calling for more reform.
The problem is, it is not the reform that Mark Rutte speaks of when he said ‘European where necessary, national where possible’. Instead, they seek to pursue the 1950s European project, to build the United States of Europe and to ask why it has not happened already. Donald Tusk was right to say that people are disillusioned with grand utopian visions of the future and just want us to cope better with the present.
Some in Brussels draw different conclusions and, instead of wanting to get on with a friendly relationship with the UK, foster hope that maybe a part of the United Kingdom can remain in the EU, rolling out the red carpet for the First Minister of Scotland. I am sure that the people of Flanders, Catalonia and the Basque country will be encouraged to see EU leaders enthusiastically embracing regional self-determination.
In this Chamber we rightly talk about the lessons of history, but what about the lessons that warn of the peril when leaders become disconnected from their people? Increasingly, decisions in the EU are not necessarily being made in an open and transparent way, especially in this Chamber. Decisions are not always made by all 751 MEPs from across the continent. Politics is about perception and there is a perception that decisions are increasingly made by five men sitting in a room and cutting deals among themselves. This is not a perception of democracy – and, if you really want to show that you are open and transparent, then stop the ‘grand coalition’ backroom stitch-ups.
My Group does not want the EU to break up, but to avoid this the EU must seriously change how it works. Whatever the challenge, ‘more Europe’ is not always the answer. Ignoring the results of national elections and referenda and saying we continue anyway is not a good enough response. EU Heads of State and Governments are rightly meeting in Bratislava this September to ask some tough questions, and that is what the ECR Group was created to do: to sometimes ask those tough questions that people in this Chamber do not necessarily want to hear.
With or without the UK, there are a growing number of people across the European Union who want change. So my plea to all of you is, listen to those who want the EU to meet the challenges of the future. Listen to those who want politicians to start addressing their legitimate concerns even where we may disagree, and listen to those who want their leaders to focus on creating jobs and growth, rather than creating political utopias."@en1
|
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata | |
| lpv:videoURI |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples