Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-04-09-Speech-3-019"
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"en.20030409.3.3-019"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, please permit me to start my statement with an expression of thanks to the staff of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, Common Security and Defence Policy and also to the staff of the groups, who, over the past years – just as much as the rapporteurs on the individual countries – have taken such trouble in dealing with this issue in depth, so that we have always been enabled, by broad majorities, to do justice to our task. Please allow me also to express my appreciation for the good cooperation with the Commission's successful negotiator, and thank Commissioner Verheugen personally for this cooperation.
With the task we have given ourselves today, it is in our hands whether this continent is reunited or not. It is now for us, after centuries of disputes between them, not to abolish the nation states, but to bring them together in such a way that they will never again be able to wage war upon each other. We are in a position to extend the area of stability, peace and prosperity, which we have had in Western Europe over recent decades, to Central and Eastern Europe, and to do this, not by any sort of coercion, but by the free decision of the peoples.
At the same time, we are in a position to bring this European continent together in such a way that it will not only have the strength that comes from peace at home, but will also be able, in the outside world, to manage peacekeeping tasks and to defend its own interests. We therefore wish to specifically remind all present and future Member States of Article 11 of the Treaty of Nice, which contains the obligation to work together on foreign issues too, in a spirit of solidarity. This point is, I believe, of particular significance at the present time.
Let me also, at this point, make an observation as a German. This enlargement of the European Union will mean that my country will no longer have an external border, with the exception of the border with Switzerland, and thus no border that could be fought over in war or be the occasion of conflict. What this, in terms of our history, means for my people is something I do not need to enlarge upon in this place. I believe that we are thereby fulfilling the wishes of Konrad Adenauer, who once said that Germany had to be led out of its geographical situation by political means. I believe it to be also the best thing we can do for peaceful development, and, at this time, I would also like to thank those from the peoples about to join us who have stretched out their hands to us. It is those hands that we grasp in order thereby to bring the peoples closer together, even though governments have not, in all areas, always grasped what that means. In this context, let me also thank the President of the Czech Republic, Vaclav Klaus, for his statement in March of this year.
There is still much to be done, however. The candidate countries will be obliged to make further substantial progress in the areas of administration, a competent judiciary, the combating of corruption and the guaranteeing of minority rights. The monitoring process that is to be set in motion will need to be closely accompanied by the European Parliament, in order thereby to ensure that the
can be adhered to in every case, allowance being of course made for teething troubles and the transitional arrangements that also have be built in.
This will also involve, in the same way, the citizens of the European Union acquiring the same rights, with no possibility of discrimination remaining, with legal protection from discrimination, which also provides a crucial security. It is for these reasons that it makes sense to bring the peoples of Europe together in this way.
I believe it to be extraordinarily important that I should say, in this context, that the European Union can of course be extended to include more countries, and Bulgaria and Romania are waiting for this. This enlargement, though, requires of us that we determine anew how large this European Union can become without it taking on too much. We have created a Union which is something entirely new when set alongside all alliances, that being a Union that makes conflict resolution within a state into an instrument for resolving conflicts between peoples. Its common legal order and its shared institutions mean that it is no ordinary alliance like those that formerly existed. If we are to say that the European Union can go thus far, but cannot manage any further, that has to be said after we have seen just what this quasi-State is capable of. In addition to that, we have to continue with the reflections recently initiated by the Commission, as to how we then organise our relations with our neighbours, preventing the development of new walls in Europe, and enabling those who cannot be Member States of the European Union, or do not want to be, to enjoy a privileged position as neighbours with whom we can coexist in peace.
On behalf of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, Common Security and Defence Policy, I wish to call upon you to approve the accession of all ten countries today."@en1
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