Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-07-03-Speech-3-065"
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"en.20020703.2.3-065"2
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".
Mr President, I would like to thank my former colleagues for the very friendly reception that I have been given. I feel almost like the prodigal son in the Bible returning home to feasting and joy.
I can assure Mr Barón Crespo, Mrs Frahm, Mr Gahrton, Mr Olle Schmidt, Mr Andersson, Mrs Frassoni and Mr Schulz that the Presidency will follow up all the Tampere objectives, i.e. the objective of creating an area of freedom, security and justice in Europe. This has a prominent place in our presidency programme and was also emphasised in the Prime Minister’s speech.
We will follow up the entire Seville declaration, and in the area of asylum we will even attempt to achieve more than was envisaged in Seville. According to the Seville declaration the common asylum policy is to be ready in 2003, but we will attempt to get as much as possible completed already under the Danish Presidency. We have drawn up a timetable, a ‘road map’, that we have given to the Commission and which we will send to Parliament. Here Mr Medina and others will be able to read that the matters of repatriation, sending back and border controls are well under way. In just three weeks’ time the heads of border controls will meet in Copenhagen to discuss how we can implement the Seville decision in reality. I am happy to tell Mr Gahrton and others that the Danish Government has stated from the start that we wish for a common asylum policy that lives up to all the international obligations and more; and I will happily say to Mrs Frahm, Mr Camre and others that naturally I will live up to what I said in my speeches here in the House and in the reports on human rights that I prepared in 1998 and 1999. Unfortunately, Denmark has an opt-out from the Treaties in this area. I say unfortunately and appeal to Mrs Frahm, Mr Gahrton and others to help us get rid of these opt-outs, which we would like to do so that we can perhaps cooperate on them. However, I am happy to assure Parliament that the Danish Presidency will not in any way be weakened by the Danish opt-out; we will do everything we can to bring about unity among the fourteen, and thereafter we in Denmark will seek to adapt ourselves to the common rules. You could call that a positive attitude.
I would like to promise Baroness Nicholson every conceivable support in the efforts to apply common rules and bring common actions and negotiations with third countries to bear against the appalling problems of child abuse that Baroness Nicholson has studied so thoroughly and drawn Parliament’s attention to time after time.
I hope that Mr Cushnahan does not expect me to respond to a Commission memorandum on agricultural policy that has not yet been produced. I agree with Mr Murphy in what he said about the matter.
Mr Caveri has a great commitment to minority policy and I listened with interest to what he said about the need for a solidarity policy.
I respect Mr Wurtz’s commitment to combating poverty in Africa and I would draw his attention to the fact that this afternoon I will be answering a question concerning the new American attitude to the International Criminal Court – so I will deal with that, too, here in the House this afternoon.
Finally, I would like to promise Mr Schulz that I will be happy to explain to him at any time how minority governments work, because they are not used to them in Mr Schulz’s country. It works by everyone cooperating with everyone else, and that may be difficult for outsiders to understand.
Last of all, I would like to thank Mr Brok; as always, I listened with great attention to what he said and I would like to thank him, the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, Common Security and Defence Policy and all of Parliament for the fact that a clear position was taken on the enlargement at so early a stage as this spring. There is huge support for what is the top priority of the Danish Presidency. So now that we have been thanked there is reason for us to thank Parliament, which has shown the way here with its rapid and clear decisions"@en1
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