Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-03-31-Speech-3-044"
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"en.20040331.1.3-044"2
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"Mr President, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, Mr President of the Commission, ladies and gentlemen, I do not wish to begin my speech without expressing my gratitude, in my capacity as a Spaniard and as chairman of the Committee on Citizens’ Freedoms and Rights, Justice and Home Affairs, for the European Council’s support for this Parliament's proposal that 11 March should be the European day for commemorating the victims of terrorism.
Recent events, as well as causing us dismay and anguish, have made us aware – as we in my country have unfortunately been for a long time – that the civilised world is at risk, in danger, from a new enemy whose limits cannot be defined: terrorism. And combating this enemy, which has many tentacles and which kills in a merciless and brutal manner, does not involve a normal war, it is not a traditional war, but it is – and there is not the least doubt of this – an unequal and criminal war against societies built upon principles such as freedom and democracy.
The European Union must unite in its efforts and urgently implement all the legal, financial and human instruments needed to combat terrorism. For all these reasons, I believe this Parliament is obliged to send the European Council a message of support for the measures it adopted on 25 March, contained in its Statement against Terrorism, but also, with the legitimacy we have as representatives of the European citizens, to tell it that we cannot accept the lack of political will on the part of the Member States to implement these measures for a minute longer, as is currently the case – and I would stress just a couple of the most obvious examples, such as the European arrest warrant or the framework decision on terrorism. And it is even less acceptable that, for purely budgetary or procedural reasons, the most effective instruments in the fight against terrorism, such as the Anti-Terrorist Unit, created within Europol as a result of the 11 September attacks, should be dismantled.
Furthermore, ladies and gentlemen, reality demonstrates that the European Union is often faced with significant difficulties when it comes to adopting decisions, and with 25 Member States I fear that this will mean that
many decisions will be deadlocked. So why do we not – following the example of the last European Council, which used the solidarity clause, laid down in the still draft constitutional treaty – anticipate the implementation of the system for adopting decisions by qualified majority, already included in the text of our future constitution?
Ladies and gentlemen, I believe – and I will end here – that this would make our work to combat what has shown itself to be the greatest danger currently facing the stability of democratic societies based on the rule of law much easier. Our citizens deserve no less, ladies and gentlemen."@en1
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