Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-10-13-Speech-3-028"
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"en.20041013.3.3-028"2
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"Mr President, there is no getting away from the fact that the way in which the outgoing European Commission acted towards the EU’s new members was exceptionally unjust. All of the previous EU enlargements were carried out in accordance with the principle that the same conditions which applied to the countries that were already part of the EU should apply to the new members. This was the case not only for countries such as Greece, Portugal and Ireland, which had national incomes as low as that of Poland, but which had market economies and were thus in a position to take rapid advantage of EU mechanisms. It was also the case for East Germany, which, like Poland, had to undergo political transformation. From the day of its entry to the EU, the German Democratic Republic received agricultural subsidies equivalent to 100% of those paid to farmers in West Germany, as well as production limits that equalled consumption. The conditions upon which Poland and the other Eastern Bloc countries were accepted were much worse, as well as being unjust. This injustice will continue to serve as a calling card for the work of your Commission, Mr Prodi. The EU monitors democracy in various countries outside the EU which do not have the slightest chance of ever joining it, and yet it lacked the courage to examine whether the referendums on EU accession were carried out in a democratic manner, and whether equal media time was available to both supporters and opponents of accession. Unfortunately neither equality nor democracy were in evidence, and yet the EU preferred to ignore this fact. This is another injustice that characterises the outgoing Commission’s term of office, and there are further causes for dissatisfaction with the work carried out by the Commission under your presidency. The draft Constitution was presented during this time, and the Commission’s support for this draft means that the EU is fast heading towards becoming a single state. There is talk of the principle of subsidiarity, but at the same time Member States are being deprived of competences in matters they could perfectly well regulate themselves. Little by little, plans are being drawn up for the creation of an EU army, a single foreign policy, a common currency, common legislation and a common jurisdiction. The Commission is gradually becoming a European government, and yet there is no consensus that this should happen."@en1
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