Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-12-15-Speech-3-285"
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"en.20041215.10.3-285"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I am delighted to say that Mrs Ferrero-Waldner is the right person in the right place. This cannot be said of all her colleagues, but that is no fault of hers.
The European Parliament’s role is becoming ever more important within the EU institutions, and its authority is becoming ever greater amongst the public in the Member States. After 25 years as a directly-elected body, Parliament’s importance is now at its height. Yet we should not derive satisfaction from the strengthening of Parliament’s role as a result of battles of competence or procedure within the European Union. To a greater extent than previously, the European Parliament’s role must be to promote democracy in the world and to provide information on values and standards. These values and standards ensure that, although our societies and political systems are not ideal, there are fewer wars and more dialogue on our continent, less violence and more compromise, and less institutional aggression and more international and institutional cooperation.
This is not a matter of promoting European values. It is a matter of informing people about a style of politics based on a search for the common good and on widening participation in government at every level. This is the role of both the European Union and the European Parliament today. Is EUR 100 million too much to spend on promoting democracy in the world? It is undoubtedly not enough, yet even a sum five times greater would still be much cheaper than going to the expense of repairing the effects of a lack of democracy. It would cost a great deal more to provide assistance to the victims of civil and international wars that break out because politicians in many countries do not understand the meaning of democracy. They only know it as a notion found in foreign language phrase books. If more than EUR 100 million were to be granted, it would of course be necessary to monitor both our own institutions and the organisations receiving the funding.
In conclusion, I should like to offer my sincere thanks to Mr McMillan-Scott, the rapporteur, for his work. I hope the House will continue to work together on this issue, regardless of political divisions, and that it will work towards the goals referred to by Mrs Ferrero-Waldner and the rapporteur."@en1
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