Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-12-04-Speech-3-066"
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"en.20021204.4.3-066"2
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"Mr President, sincere thanks for your work. We have made progress. Thank you also for the letter that you sent to Members, which has clarified a lot of things. Incidentally, I have not forgotten how you supported me in the Conference of Presidents in 1998 over the question of whether the Committee on Legal Affairs should prepare a draft statute. You were chairman of the Liberal Group at the time. That was a long time ago.
We intend the resolution as a spur to deeper discussion with the Council of the questions that remain open. We talk about strengthening democracy and not just about salaries, we talk about the dignity of Parliament, whose Members represent 380 million citizens of the European Union, and not just about reimbursement and allowances. Of course those questions need to be settled. I am convinced that the presidency, which is the only body competent to do so, will resolve the system of reimbursements in a way that is understandable and transparent for the general public.
Those who speak only about money betray their deep contempt for this Parliament. We are not a gang of con men whose activities have to be stopped. When the European Council introduced direct elections in 1976, it failed to set out the constitutional rights of Members. The Council cannot, more than two decades after the first direct elections, expect us to go without a definition of Members’ constitutional rights. The rules on immunity date back to 1965 and were designed for delegates sent to the Parliamentary Assembly by the national parliaments. The Council cannot expect us not to change anything in those 1965 provisions in the year 2003. I am quite familiar with the legal problems. With a measure of good will on both sides they can be solved.
There is a time for everything.
. I have the feeling that the time for a decision is drawing near. In 1999 the European Council itself called on us – we have quoted it – to bring the question of the Members’ Statute to a conclusion as a matter of urgency. We shall probably deal with the matter for good early next year. We are authorised to submit a report for the plenum. I know there are still problems with primary law, but they can be solved and I would be very grateful if the Council would concentrate on this question and send us concrete pointers for a solution. In any case, the Statute must be adopted before enlargement. It will be virtually impossible afterwards."@en1
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