Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-09-03-Speech-2-171"
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"en.20020903.6.2-171"2
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".
Mr President, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, honourable Members, I should like to pick up on just one thought that has run through the whole of this debate, namely the fact that, in the midst of such awful disaster, comforting moments occur, especially when humanity suddenly shows its face where it was least expected. I am delighted that we have been able to show the human face of European politics. That applies not just to the disaster areas in Germany and Austria. I can assure you that it was highly prized in the Czech Republic. The speed with which we acted and the fact that we took it for granted that action was needed have left behind a far deeper impression than much we have done for the Czech Republic over recent years. To know that, in your hour of need, you are in the same boat as your neighbour and to see help given in a spirit of solidarity has answered the question raised by a lot of people in this country: why exactly do we want Europe and do we need it?
I am very grateful to the European Parliament that, like the Commission and the Council, it has not wasted time worrying about distinctions between Member States and future Member States when it comes to aid from the new emergency reserve. We can choose our contracting partners, but we cannot choose our neighbours. If it rains cats and dogs in Austria and Saxony and in the Czech Republic, which is in between the two, we cannot say we shall help Austria and we shall help Saxony, but we shall not help the Czech Republic. And people in Prague noticed that this is the general view. I was there on Thursday. It seems to me – and I say this in all caution – that the flood has also washed away a number of recent political problems between the countries affected."@en1
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