Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-09-04-Speech-2-117"
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"en.20010904.7.2-117"2
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"Mr President, it is now ten years since Estonia won back its independence. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the world has become more secure, and our European home is now more dynamic and inspires more hope. The conditions for European cooperation changed radically when the Wall came down, and the EU has so far been able to live up to these.
I want to thank those of my fellow MEPs who have been involved with this topic, and I also wish to extend my thanks to the Committee Secretariat.
The presence of a successful Western Europe and of political visionaries such as Kohl, Reagan, Thatcher and, for that matter, Gorbachev, is partly responsible for this success, but it was, above all, individual people’s longing for freedom which made possible this revolutionary change to the age in which we live. It was courageous men and women, both young and old, who feared reprisals but who loved freedom more.
It is a fantastic inheritance to have experienced this dividend of freedom and liberation. Let us remind people of the way in which democracy triumphed over dictatorship and oppression was exchanged for freedom. The enlargement process must be seen in this perspective. Just as the Coal and Steel Union succeeded in its task of securing peace in the participating countries of Europe, we must now make sure that the European Union increases freedom and the opportunity for more people to participate in freedom of movement and that it increases prosperity, promotes diversity and contributes to solving our common problems involving crime and the environment.
This is probably not as dramatic a task as was once the task of reconciling historic enemies, but I think that it is at least as large a task, involving just as many benefits but being perhaps more difficult to carry out. That is precisely why it is my political group’s most important task of all to continue to fight for freedom and now to enable our fellow human beings in Eastern and Central Europe to participate on the same conditions as ourselves. In this way, we should also be showing, especially to today’s young people, that we believe in an EU that is able to change in order to live up to its own ideals.
This must not be some wait-and-see project. The EU’s commitment will be commensurate with the active work done by the candidate countries. I want to praise the Commission’s work on this aspect but still put a question mark over the Council’s ambition and ability.
Allow me to say a few words about Estonia, that fascinating little country on the Baltic. Through singleness of purpose, sound political leadership and cooperation, Estonia has come a long way in its preparations for EU membership. In my report, I tried to make it clear that, in many areas, the EU has a lot to learn from the Estonians, for example in the area of trade and within what we call the new economy.
In many respects, developments in Estonia constitute a success story in which an incredible amount has happened during the last ten years. I addressed the subject of security policy in my report. We cannot view enlargement of the EU in isolation or fondly imagine that the EU has powers it at present completely lacks. The Estonians, who also want to see themselves participating in NATO soon, are aware of this. The Estonians, who were oppressed, expelled from their homes and driven to despair under the Soviet Union’s Communist dictatorship, know that the only important thing is to defend freedom. Those of us in the Group of the European People’s Party and European Democrats share their analysis and support them in this.
The Group of the Greens here in Parliament are anxious about poverty in a country that has experienced a remarkably greater degree of prosperity since the liberation. I view the Greens’ amendment as an attempt to defend existing structures and a social model that have entrenched unemployment in the EU. I believe, for my part, that the economy of the EU needs more dynamism and less hegemony, and I do not therefore wish to support that amendment.
Finally, a few words about minorities, mainly a large proportion of Russian speakers in the case of Estonia. It is not a straightforward issue. We are concerned here with power, prejudices and ancient wrongs. The precondition for integration and a successful sense of community is the successful rule of law, together with institutions and laws that are non-discriminatory. However, that is not enough. When it comes to practical work too, political leaders must take these issues seriously. That applies just as much in our own countries. Overcoming differences requires tolerance and mutual respect and takes time. In this respect too, Estonia is on the right road."@en1
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