Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-12-16-Speech-1-072"
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"en.20021216.6.1-072"2
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"Mr President, following the friendly observation directed to me by Mr von Boetticher, I wish to say that I am in no doubt that there are criminals outside Europe but that they are nonetheless small fry in comparison with those within the European Union’s own institutions. I merely need to quote the name, beginning with a ‘B’, of a future President of the European Council who is to take office in just over six months’ time. There is of course a type of criminal beside whom the small fry we have outside the EU pale into insignificance. That was an aside. My main criticism and my attitude to the proposals before us are expressed in a minority opinion on the report. They are based on the wonder I have always felt at the European Union’s and its institutions’ ability to empty the language of meaning and, in certain cases, to make the language mean the opposite of what was intended. Opposition to the proposals before us is based on the fact that surveillance technology is being reinforced but that insufficient attention is being given to the rule of law, in spite of protests to the contrary. I merely need to cite an example in the form of Article 101a of the proposal concerning Europol’s access to the Schengen Information System. A number of basic requirements are made of Europol, but there is no reasonable guarantee whatsoever that Europol will comply with those requirements. There is the supervisory body provided for by Article 24 of the Europol Convention, but all that may be said with certainty about this supervisory body is that it is genuinely powerless in relation to the huge scope for abuse in the overall system. I must add, moreover, that what makes matters more alarming from the point of view of the rule of law is that the powers in question are linked to an extremely unclear concept of terrorism. I am able, in this Assembly, to say that the old Danish proverb applies here about selling elastic by the metre and, as my fellow countrymen know, that is something which only people of a very trustworthy character can do. There is no reasonable likelihood of the bodies concerned being of a sufficiently trustworthy character. The rule of law will sustain irreparable damage."@en1
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