Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-04-09-Speech-3-054"
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"en.20030409.3.3-054"2
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"Mr President, I am cautious about drawing historical comparisons, but it is appropriate to do so today. A generation of politicians in the Fifties – Konrad Adenauer, Robert Schuman, Jean Monnet, Alcide De Gasperi, Paul-Henri Spaak and others – had the courage and the vision to establish a European Community that would overcome a thousand years of antagonism between Germany and France and begin the unification of Europe in the West. We, the present political generation, have the opportunity, for the first time in a thousand years, to bring the continent together by peaceful means and on a voluntary basis into a European Union, a union of freedom, peace and prosperity. If we do not seize this opportunity, we will be failing in our historic mission.
The resolution of the European Parliament on the reunification of Europe will be adopted in one day, but the unification of the whole of Europe is a process, the task of an entire generation of politicians. Its accomplishment demands strenuous efforts, not only on the part of the acceding countries but also on that of the present Member States, for the Union is not simply becoming larger – it is also becoming a different Union. The new Member States will be more than a numerical addition to the membership of the present Union; they will give the European Union a new character. As they themselves are well aware, they are not only entering a market but are also acceding to a union whose desire and obligation it is to become a political union. They are joining in the Convention's work of building firmer foundations for this. For both the old and the new Member States, membership of the Union confers rights but also imposes responsibilities, in particular the duty to work with all available means on the development and consolidation of our common future for the benefit of all, for the good of the whole Union, and not just to increase their own store. Old Europe has fixed its eyes on a new future. Today we are giving it the green light, and I am deeply grateful to be able to play a part in this."@en1
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