Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-12-18-Speech-3-022"
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"en.20021218.3.3-022"2
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"Madam President, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, Mr President of the Commission, I concur wholeheartedly with the congratulations that the Danish Presidency has received from all sides. They are well deserved. I myself hardly believed that it would be possible to accomplish enlargement in the unbelievably short time available, in the face of all the colossal problems associated with it. It is an impressive administrative and technical piece of work, which deserves the greatest credit. I know that the Commission staff, under the leadership of Mr Verheugen; the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the Danish Prime Minister’s Office; the European Parliament: everyone has pulled together, and it was thanks to the Danish Presidency’s aim that the project must succeed now, that it did succeed. It was an impressive achievement, which was also due to the fact that the aims and priorities were clearly explained. We were told, ‘Help us now, we are listening, we are working together’, and the cooperation succeeded. It was an outstanding achievement.
One of the great experiences for me was the meeting, here in Parliament, with the representatives of all the new countries. It was moving to listen to them setting out their priorities: freedom, justice, the rule of law, parliamentary democracy. Of course, we all wish for these, and this is why we are carrying out enlargement. We desire peace, freedom, stability and respect for human rights, among other things. That is what they said, loud and clear. It was our friends that were meeting with us, perhaps with a higher level of ambition in those areas than we normally voice, but then they have a background that justifies this.
There was one thing which the President-in-Office of the Council did not mention, but which in any case I shall take the liberty of mentioning: for the first time, there were TV broadcasts from the beginning and end of the Council meetings in Copenhagen. This is a giant step forward as regards openness, and indeed it should be pointed out, because if there is one thing we in the European Parliament have wished for, it is just this increase in openness.
I should also like to say that it was impressive that the Kaliningrad problem was solved in the difficult circumstances that prevailed at the very time this took place. This, however, was another demonstration of our will, unity and cooperation playing the role that was needed to put this, too, in place.
Congratulations. We shall be delighted to welcome the new Members to the European Parliament. Thank you to the Presidency of the Council and to the Commission for making this possible.
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