Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-03-31-Speech-3-011"
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"en.20040331.1.3-011"2
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"Mr President, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, Mr President of the Commission, ladies and gentlemen, the Brussels Summit had as its focus and main subject the terrible events of March 11, 2004 in Madrid, and it was good that it drew from them the necessary conclusions. As one who can still well remember how the US President John F. Kennedy in 1963 said in a divided Berlin: ‘Ich bin ein Berliner’, I think that, as Europeans, we must adopt a similar attitude towards our Spanish partners and friends. We must say that this attack in Madrid was not only an attack on Spain, but an attack on Europe as a whole, on the entire Western world, the entire world. So it is in sympathy and solidarity with Spain that we must commit ourselves to action and to clear and decisive promotion of the European Union and the unity of Europe. This must be our answer to terrorism. I would like to thank you at this point very much, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, for your leadership, which has made it possible for this signal to be sent out from Brussels. Europe is now to act! Europe wants to be united, and Europe wants to find its way to the future together!
It is right that the summit has accepted the solidarity clause in the version of the Constitution. This is a solidarity clause against terrorism. However, Europe must show solidarity in general, when faced with external attacks, and, now more than ever, we know that domestic and foreign policy form an integrated whole and that the one cannot be separated from the other. We also welcome the appointment of a coordinator for matters of internal security, and, in Mr Gijs de Vries, a former Member of this House, we have found an excellent candidate for this position. I look forward to collaborating with the Coordinator for Internal Security!
Let me also say, however, Mr President-in-Office of the Council – and this intervention will certainly not be the last word – that we would have welcomed it if the office of the security coordinator had been established not in the area of foreign policy and intergovernmental collaboration but, as the Commission wanted, in the area of the Community institutions, so that it would also be subject to Parliamentary and legal control. I think this is important for the future, and, whilst I would not wish to put a question mark against the creation of this position, it will also be necessary for us not to treat it simply as an alibi in order to be able to say that we have done enough in this area. What is now needed is a very specific policy for us to implement in internal security.
For this reason, I very much regret that the European arrest warrant is not yet in place, and we urge the five Member States who have not yet ratified to do so. We must also build up Europol, which would be much more effective if these difficult financial negotiations did not have to be conducted between the Member States of the European Union whenever we want to give it money. Why do we not make Europol, too, subject to the Community method, so that it can be financed from the Community budget? That would make everything much easier. I also think we should accept the Community method in this area, too.
I believe that the most important thing, in discussions of internal security and terrorism, is that we should tell the Arab world that we do not identify terrorism with them or with Islam. Let me say this now – permit me to say this as a German – I remember the discussions after 1945, when there was talk of the collective guilt of the Germans. That was rejected, and rightly, because not everybody was responsible for the crimes of National Socialism. In just the same way, we should not today make the mistake of equating terrorism with the Arab and Islamic world as a whole. We want cooperation; we want collaboration with the Arab and Islamic world. For this reason too, I emphatically agree with the President of the Commission, Mr Prodi, who has said – as you also have done, Mr President-in-Office of the Council – that peace in the Middle East with security and dignity for all people in Israel and Palestine is absolutely crucial in terms of peace in the world and peaceful relations between Europe and the Middle East and the Arab world as a whole. We must counter contempt for humanity with the dignity of man, asserting our principles of life against their principles of death, and, in place of hatred, our desire for collaboration. The message must now be – and I must thank you warmly for it – that we are gaining a Constitution, of which our group is very decidedly in favour, and the entire European People’s Party has declared it to be the topmost priority. We would like to say to you, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, that it would be a magnificent achievement if, under your presidency – we would like to see it before the European elections – you were to be able to bring the Constitution to a successful conclusion. We wish you every success. We support you. The right answer to give the world is that Europe is determined and united."@en1
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