Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-04-09-Speech-3-047"

Predicate	Value (sorted: default)
rdf:type	lpv_eu:Speech2
dcterms:Date	"2003-04-09"^^xsd:date2
dcterms:Is Part Of	lp_eu:Enlargement2
dcterms:Language	"en"^^xsd:language2
lpv:document identification number	"en.20030409.3.3-047"2
lpv:hasSubsequent	lp_eu:2003-04-09-Speech-3-0482
lpv:speaker	lp:Gary Titley2
lpv:spoken text	"Mr President, in my younger days I was one of those who had a vision of a European Community which was not an exclusive club of Western European states but one which embraced the whole of Europe. I am therefore immensely proud to stand here as my group's Vice-President responsible for enlargement at the moment that this vision becomes a reality. What a transformation to Europe we are seeing! Twelve years ago six of the ten candidate countries did not even exist as sovereign nation states. Now they will be working with us for peace, prosperity, stability and freedom. The Socialist Group will be saying 'yes' to the ten countries. This is not a romantic 'yes', it is a 'yes' which is a result of 15 years of profound economic and social change, 10 years of cooperation and preparation and more than 5 years of tough and difficult negotiations. It is a 'yes' which is a reward for the immense hardships suffered by the peoples of the candidate countries during their painful economic and social transition. It is a 'yes' which confirms that all ten countries have succeeded in fulfilling the political, economic and legislative criteria for membership of the Union through their persistence and hard work. It is a 'yes' that will see the EU enriched by the enormous cultural and intellectual traditions of the new countries and by their unique political and historical heritage: the battling Baltics – David to the Soviet Union's Goliath; the Prague spring; the Hungarian uprising; Solidarity; brave Malta – the George Cross island, freedom's bastion in the darkest days of the Second World War; and people like my good friend, Vytenis Andriukaitis, from Lithuania, whose family led the resistance to the Soviets and suffered in exile and for whom now this represents the end of that nightmare. When confronted by all of this I can only echo Shakespeare's words in The Tempest: 'O, wonder!... O brave new world, That has such people in't.' Our job now is to build that brave new world. It will not come by accident. The candidates must continue to strive to be ready for the obligations of membership, particularly in the fight against corruption. We have to show the imagination and courage to embrace institutional, political and economic reform. Failure to do so will see the brave new world collapse into stagnation and mutual recriminations. Today is a new beginning. We must not miss the opportunities this new beginning brings. I can conclude by no better commentary than that of Shakespeare in Julius Caesar: 'There is a tide in the affairs of men which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries; on such a full sea we are now afloat; and we must take the current ... when it serves, or lose our ventures'."@en1
lpv:spokenAs	unknown; Labour Party (1999-07-20--2004-07-19)3 substitute; Committee on Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, Common Security and Defence Policy (2002-01-17--2004-07-19)3 member; Delegation to the European Economic Area Joint Parliamentary Committee (EEA) (2002-02-07--2004-07-19)3 member; Committee on Industry, External Trade, Research and Energy (2002-01-17--2004-07-19)3 member; PES (1999-07-20--2003-05-20)3 substitute; Delegation to the EU-Lithuania Joint Parliamentary Committee (2002-12-12--2004-04-30)3 substitute; Delegation to the EU-Slovenia Joint Parliamentary Committee (2002-02-07--2004-04-30)3
lpv:unclassifiedMetadata	"Titley (PSE )."1

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