Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-11-06-Speech-3-057"
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"en.20021106.6.3-057"2
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"Mr President, the process of the accession of ten new Member States is now nearing completion. We are excited about it and would like to congratulate the Commission and the Council on this. It fulfils the fondest wish of the vast majority of European citizens, as it was, in the past, far from self-evident that this wish would be fulfilled.
Unfortunately, many have already forgotten this. Enlargement became to them a question of money and some politicians speculated on fear, self-interest and other negative traits which they believed to be widely present at grassroots level. They knew very well that it is our security and prosperity that will benefit from enlargement.
To my chagrin, the Dutch parliament, in particular, has been guilty of this type of behaviour, even as recently as this week. Since the Dutch Government was sensible enough to take the right decisions, a majority in the Chamber suddenly extended an invitation to the government right at the end to examine the options of a referendum on accession after all, although the formula is such that the government has still been given time to respond negatively. Domestic opportunism has prevailed over clarity and responsible policy in this case.
Could the Council and the Commission, for their part, comment on the options and advisability of referendums on enlargement in the current Member States? Also, could you indicate the principal difference between referendums in the current Member States and those in the states that are candidates for membership? What would be the effect of a negative outcome of a referendum in a Member State or in one or more candidate countries, respectively? I should like to receive a response to this from the Council and, if possible, from the Commission, because this is, of course, of major importance for the purpose of publicity and information provided to the Dutch people.
Finally, a word on Chechnya. The group chairman has already commented on this, and rightly so. This is a fight against terrorism, but we could employ diplomatic means to find a solution. I would also ask the Council whether the EU has a policy on Chechnya."@en1
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