Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-07-03-Speech-1-070"
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"en.20000703.6.1-070"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner Patten, Prime Minister of Portugal, nobody will be surprised if I add my voice to those who have, in the main, congratulated the Prime Minister on the great skill with which he has led the Council of the European Union over the last six months. I am doing so for other reasons, as I have already said here over these six months, but above all, because I feel that this Presidency has made three important marks. Firstly, it has adopted a new political stance. Secondly, it has made a commitment to building a Europe with a social conscience, which provides a practical response to the problems of European citizens, and thirdly, it has established a new dialogue, based on the universal European values that have been asserted and developed over these six months.
Firstly, there is the new political stance in its relations with Parliament, which my colleague Mr Barón Crespo has already mentioned. I would like to contribute a further example, of which there can never be too many. This concerns the number of subjects that were opened up to codecision and then closed during the six months of this Portuguese Presidency. Above all, there is the respect with which the Portuguese Presidency always treated this Parliament, which will certainly have contributed to future presidencies adopting a new stance in their relations with Parliament.
Secondly, there is the Portuguese Presidency’s assertion of civil values and respect for human dignity. Here I must return to the Austrian question, Prime Minister, to ask you and to ask myself what would be the attitude of many of those who are today criticising the Portuguese Presidency for having had the courage and the determination to condemn a xenophobic and fundamentalist agenda if the Fourteen Member States and the Presidency itself had remained silent? We prefer to praise the Portuguese Presidency for its courage, determination and boldness, although others might prefer to highlight its silence, perhaps even its cowardice. We think that this was an important statement to make, not just within the Union, but beyond it as well. It has clearly been understood, because when the Austrian Government announced its programme, it put considerable emphasis on the protection of human rights and, above all, on its acceptance of the European project.
I would, however, like to focus on other political issues related to the second mark made by the Portuguese Presidency, this Europe with a social conscience that I mentioned, which has earned the praise of many people, in particular the Secretary-General of the European Trade Union Conference, which also held a demonstration in Oporto. The Secretary-General highlighted quite clearly, however, what the presidency was able to achieve by discussing issues such as full employment, the social agenda, a society that remains true to the values of the European social model and that is based on knowledge and information. These points are, today, at the centre of the European Union’s political agenda and will never again be relegated to being second- or third-class issues or merely the responsibility of the Member States. This debate continues to raise questions: why are many of those who criticised this Council three months ago for not having reached – in their opinion – substantial conclusions, today criticising the presidency for placing too great an emphasis on the intergovernmental approach precisely because these conclusions have been successful?
The third and final mark made by the Portuguese Presidency is that it has asserted Europe’s new position in the world. You have already talked about this, Prime Minister, in relation to Mexico, South Africa and the EU-India Summit. The same applies to the EU-Africa Summit, which we feel was a key point, a turning point leading to the creation of a new, necessary relationship between the European Union and Africa. The European Union cannot continue to be hypocritical in its treatment of Africa and the Summit was a major step in this new approach.
Prime Minister, these three marks mean that that you are drawing a conclusion here and confirming a desire. Your conclusion is that European ambition is not the heritage of large countries alone. The conclusion is that the desire and commitment shown for constructing and proving allegiance to the project by its founders are also the heritage of those who, even in remote and even small areas in territorial terms also have ambition and take pride in being Portuguese and, at the same time, European. The desire is that the reasons we have today to feel proud will not end or die out with the Portuguese Presidency. They must remain alive so that we can continue, as a Member State, to develop this project and confirm these values and a culture which is our own, which deserves our respect and above all, which is worthy of our every effort."@en1
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