Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-11-18-Speech-4-285"

Predicate	Value (sorted: default)
rdf:type	lpv_eu:Speech2
dcterms:Date	"1999-11-18"^^xsd:date2
dcterms:Is Part Of	lp_eu:EU action plan to combat drugs (continuation)2
dcterms:Language	"nl"^^xsd:language2
lpv:document identification number	"en.19991118.15.4-285"2
lpv:hasSubsequent	lp_eu:1999-11-18-Speech-4-2862
lpv:speaker	lp:Margrietus van den Berg2
lpv:spokenAs	member; Delegation for relations with the countries of Central America and Mexico (1999-10-06--2002-01-14)3 vice-chair; PES (1999-07-20--2004-07-19)3 substitute; AFCO (1999-07-22--2002-01-14)3 unknown; Partij van de Arbeid (1999-07-20--2004-07-19)3 vice-chair; Committee on Development and Cooperation (1999-07-21--2002-01-14)3 member; Members from the European Parliament to the Joint Parliamentary Assembly of the Agreement between the African, Caribbean and Pacific States and the European Union (ACP-EU) (1999-09-14--2002-01-14)3
lpv:translated text	"Mr President, given the fact that there are so few of us left and given the concerns for tomorrow morning’s vote, we should perhaps think about the significance of Fridays and their future. Unlike my colleagues from the Netherlands, Mr Wiebenga and Mr Blokland, I am proud of the Dutch policy. A hard-line approach on hard drugs, including XTC, is, at the same time, an effective way of lifting victims from the criminal circuit via a health-care approach and is also a policy which, fortunately, is attracting more and more followers elsewhere in Europe. What is the logic behind it? The rationale? One may well wonder following this discussion. What we have before us is the product of a long and emotionally-laden process and we have not finished by a long way because we are about to vote on this, that is tomorrow morning at 9.00 a.m. What is the issue? The Commission has made an announcement regarding a European Union plan of action concerning drug control for the years 2000 to 2004. Compared with a previous plan of action, this document is clearly a step forward. We are now on track for a kind of mainstreaming of the drugs policy with the emphasis on prevention, but hardly any guiding choices are being made. Instead of making choices, we have mainly looked at the fantasy image of what avenues would be open to us once the war against drugs is over. Until such time, until we have won this war and our society is free from drugs, we are conducting an uncompromising battle against not only the drugs Mafia but also the poor coca farmers in Latin America and also the poppy planters in Asia. The militarisation of these societies, together with the fact that these poor people are not being given any effective help, means there are no truly sustainable prospects for the future. Is it not about time we drew up a cost-benefit analysis of what we are doing, which is in fact at the insistence of the US war on drugs? Are drugs really at least as important as human rights, as suggested by the rapporteur, and why do we not learn from an effective approach as adopted in the Netherlands, for example? Luckily, further to the Commission’s communication, we are making some room for users and some more room for potential users, young people, by pointing out the harmful effects. All in all this still has very little bearing on reality. After all, the Commission has repeatedly highlighted that the plan of action in this respect is merely a supplement. Perhaps it is so that the call made to the Presidency for an inter-pillar council could be seen as signalling a new opportunity, because this document still feels like a missed opportunity to me."@en1

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