Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-07-21-Speech-3-069"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.19990721.5.3-069"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:translated text |
".
(IT) Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for this debate, which has been in-depth, clear and in many cases, extremely comprehensive and which has mostly demonstrated open confidence in our future work. I say open confidence because all those who spoke, even those who criticised the composition of the Commission, acknowledged the need to work closely together in a major, intense undertaking and recognised the fact that the future of the European Union lies in collaboration between the Parliament and the Commission. It is we and our collaboration which will form the basis for the way out of the current crisis, a crisis so serious as to reduce the number of voters who turned out at the last elections to among the lowest proportions in European political history.
(Applause)
I believe that, at the end of this mandate, one gauge of our success will be the numbers who vote in the next elections. That will show whether we have managed to restore the faith of the citizens of Europe in the Institutions for which we are responsible. This means transparency, a whole cleaning up operation which will not be easy to conduct. It is easy to promise – and I have committed myself fully on this matter – but I also know very well that it is not an easy promise to keep. A little while ago the electoral symbol for my candidacy – a little donkey – was invoked with charming irony, and I was invited to be stubborn, an invitation which was unnecessary as I am pig-headed by nature. However, I would like remind you that I was prompted to choose the donkey while reading a passage from Leonardo da Vinci, in which, while he is describing the donkey – although I cannot vouch for the truth of the statement for lack of proof – he said that the donkey is a strange animal because rather than drink dirty water it will die of thirst.
(Applause)
It is important for us to take the donkey as the symbol of our politics because, in this five-year term, we must try to do likewise. I am perfectly aware that it is easy to make these resolutions but that it is not so easy to keep them, but the method we used to build the Commission, Mr Poettering, was a very open one. There was no night of long knives, no investiture struggle and no border fighting. It was not an easy task to bring together fifteen countries, north and south, and diverse political situations. As for the result, when I say ‘balanced’ we know full well that there is discontent in some countries, but that is politics: balanced means that the major forces present in the European Parliament are very well represented in terms of personality and portfolio size in the Commission. You can analyse the composition of the Commission in as much detail as you like. I repeat, within the bounds of the Treaty of Amsterdam, I have taken full advantage of all the power conferred on me, and I believe that one improvement at the end of this mandate may be more advanced ways of forming the Commission.
Nevertheless, please consider the progress made with regard to other areas. Please consider the fact that we have arrived here with a Commission which will work hard – well or not so well, we will see – whatever the case, which is able to agree on common programmes and the Members of which are ready to face their responsibilities, individually and collectively. I reiterate this point because there has been a great deal of discussion regarding the manner in which we will conduct the audiences, hearings and inquiries. I attach very great importance to this aspect of things, as I attach very great importance to the Wise Men"s report, but I also believe that these inquiries must be made into the history of the Commissioners and their programmes, and must be carried out in great depth and with political serenity as, in my opinion, they cannot be the tool to regulate problems which occurred in the past. Having said this, I believe that they must be explored in more depth and that there must be hearings which go right to the bottom of the Commission"s problems, because, and I am right to do so, I have taken on board the warning that prevention is preferable to the Commission being subsequently thrown into crisis.
Earlier today, in my address, I said that I have asked all the Commissioners to give me their word of honour that they would resign should any new event take place or should there be any hidden fact. I believe that this tool will not be used lightly, but with the sense, however, that the problem in question involves not only individual responsibility but also the efficiency and responsibility of the entire Commission team which must present itself to you as capable of governing for the next five years. Clearly, we have to present ourselves as individuals, but we must also present ourselves as an organically composed group, not as distinct individuals which are separate from each other. This has been the endeavour of the past few months and this is the type of Commission which has been introduced to you. Please assess it in this way. Therefore, I consider that the vote on 15 September will be enormously important. I believe that you have the right to reject the entire Commission and consider it inadequate for the great task of leading Europe in the next five year period and making its contribution to the great task before us. Well then, I invite you to perform this task according to the vision of European common interest, and not in a context, although absolutely legitimate in politics, of individual interest.
I will conclude by returning to a couple of points which have been recalled and raised today. Firstly, the Wise Men"s report. I believe that it is very important for us to have read the first of these carefully and to have measured against it many of the thoughts which I have expounded to the Parliament on the three occasions in which I have come here. This report does exert an influence, but we have to understand that the political responsibility of the future is our own. The Wise Men"s report is a wonderful instrument, and we must read it and reflect upon it, but the decision is ours alone to make and its consequences ours to bear, and it is in this sense that the dialogue between Parliament and the Commission takes on a completely different dimension.
Secondly, several speakers have invoked the question of international trade, which I did not bring up because it will be discussed in September. I can assure you that it will be very important to maintain a balance between the need for free trade, which is one of the foundation stones of Europe, and the protection of important rights, including the fundamental health rights. This is the reason why I have highlighted the example of health with regard to food and medicine as one of the benchmarks for the our future Commission.
There you are. This is the path we have to follow. As Mr Barón Crespo said, quoting Manzoni: ‘
’
but ‘
’, ‘Go on, carefully’. The quotation is not complete, however, because there is another sentence. In fact, Manzoni says: ‘
’, that is ‘Go on, Pedro, if you can’, and this power to move forward is in your hands."@en1
|
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
"Adelante"1
"Adelante, Pedro, si puedes"1
"President-elect of the Commission"1
"con juicio"1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples