Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-01-17-Speech-4-110"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20020117.5.4-110"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
".
It is not often we see a rapporteur vote against his own report. In this case, the spirit of the report adopted by the Committee on Industry, External Trade, Research and Energy has been altered to such a degree that my political principles left me no other choice.
It is, I think, highly significant that the majority position adopted in the Committee on Industry, External Trade, Research and Energy was that space activities should only be intended for peaceful purposes. It would have been even more significant had Plenary maintained the essence of that position. However, the amendment adopted by Plenary, adding that these purposes may include military applications in the context of peaceful operations, totally negates this initially pacifist stand. In doing so, the European Parliament has opened the door to all manner of strategic activities in space, provided they are cloaked in the mantle of a "peaceful operation", and the group of the European People's Party, which proposed the amendment, and the group of the Party of European Socialists, which backed it, are primarily to blame.
We have seen on several occasions and we are seeing more and more frequently just what the strong countries in the European Union understand by peaceful operations. We saw it in Yugoslavia and the Balkans, we see it in Afghanistan, we expect to see it in all four corners of the world. Aggression, however it is dressed up, lies at the heart of imperialism. Now they are clearly thinking about using space to facilitate their criminal policy against the people, to collect information and to spy, so that they can plan their Common Defence and Security Policy operations better and conduct a witch-hunt against terrorism and no doubt elsewhere too. Some people are flirting with the idea of collaborating with the USA on an anti-missile shield and some people perhaps think that space is the perfect place to position weapons.
The fact that the European Parliament has chosen to adopt a pro-military resolution rather than a pacifist resolution comes as no surprise, nor is it the first time. We expect nothing less from an institution created by the bourgeoisie for its own protection. But nor does the outcome of the vote mean that the matter is closed for the grass-roots movement. Resistance to imperialist policies, be they in the form of financial enslavement or in the form of military intervention, is growing all over the world. We have no doubt as to what the final outcome of the grass-roots fight will be: it will be a different world, a peaceful, humane society for mankind."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples