Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-06-13-Speech-3-047"
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"en.20010613.1.3-047"2
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"Mr President, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr President of the Commission, enlargement is more than just an economic matter, it is a great political event rooted in the history of the European peoples, in the culture they share: Roman law, Christianity, the universities and Enlightenment. It is now our duty to rediscover this cultural unity which must consolidate the necessary and, I would argue, right and proper, irreversible decision to enlarge the Union. The Commission, the Council and Parliament have the task of involving the citizens in this process, as President Prodi has stressed.
The Irish vote must certainly make us stop and think: we must not get things out of proportion but it is certainly our duty to involve the European people in the important matters concerning the Union. In its endeavours to achieve the goal of enlargement, the Commission can count on the full, firm support of my political party and the new Italian government, which is involved in a fresh, incisive Europeanist initiative, as Mr Solana and Mr Giscard d'Estaing have stressed and acknowledged today as well.
However, because it is our duty to involve the peoples of Europe, I feel that an initial stage should be also envisaged in the reform process in which the European Parliament, the national parliaments, the governments and the Commission work together to prepare for the 2003 Intergovernmental Conference. President Prodi, I agree that the debate must not be confined to an elite: there must therefore be less elitism and more parliamentarianism in the reform processes. As regards the other matter, relations between the United States and the European Union, I feel that we must foster transatlantic dialogue and, therefore, I welcome President Bush's visit.
Finally, we must be committed to the Middle East peace process. The European Union must do everything in its power; in the future, once the most difficult stage is over and recourse to terrorism has been avoided, it should take action to assist the economic growth of the territories surrounding Israel as well, for they must not be subjected to economic as well as ethnic and political tension. I feel that the European Union will be able to play a major role in this matter."@en1
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