Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-05-31-Speech-4-098"
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"en.20010531.3.4-098"2
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".
I decided to vote against the Méndez de Vigo/Seguro report, although I am a convinced European and I care about the future of the European Union. However, I do not think that the preamble offers any real guarantee on conditions for an enlargement that will be fair to all the countries involved.
In addition, the fact that the Charter of Fundamental Rights will not be binding means that it will not be possible to provide a solid framework for a Europe in which the issue of the greatest deprivation of rights must remain a priority, for example the protection of workers from the arrogance of certain employers.
Finally, the absence of any clear affirmation of the equality of social, economic and political rights between foreigners or immigrants and European nationals worries me enormously, at a time when the sudden upsurge in the populist xenophobic vote is setting the heart of Europe ablaze, in Austria, Lombardy, Italy and Switzerland, when we see the extreme violence of the ultra-right and extremist movements in Germany, or of the hooligans in Great Britain, or when we consider the fate of thousands of people living in our countries without papers, who are at the mercy of those who traffic in human misery in all its forms. These are serious shortcomings. As for the lack of action following the election violence in Spain, described as a pogrom by commentators, this is not worthy of Europe.
Finally, the fact that the dimension of a Europe turning towards the countries of the south, in particular Africa which is sinking into economic, health and ecological misery, is not really a matter of priority, the fact that there is no provision for simply abolishing the debts of third-world countries and increasing aid to those countries, and also the lack of any thoughts as to how to restore equilibrium between the CFA franc and the dollar, the yen and the euro, all these things will serve only to increase the growing imbalance.
The fact that the IMF and the World Bank have admitted their responsibility surely means that the development of Africa deserves to be made a priority, in view of our colonial history.
This does not, of course, detract from the serious work of the rapporteurs and the recent declarations by the French Prime Minister, Lionel Jospin, which both point in the direction of a more fraternal, mutually supportive and just Europe, but which seem to contradict the positions taken up by Mr Schröder and Mr Blair. Our Europe deserves a Treaty of Nice which is along the lines of the recent declarations, or at least closer to the declarations of the two heads of the French Government."@en1
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