Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-04-12-Speech-2-181"
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"en.20050412.27.2-181"2
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".
Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, Parliament will tomorrow be voting on whether or not to welcome Bulgaria into the European Union, and I would like to congratulate Mr Van Orden, on behalf of the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, on his report on the subject, which is thorough and does a good job of striking a balance between, on the one hand, the enormous progress Bulgaria has made, and, on the other, the problems that still – as we know – remain to be resolved. What is beyond doubt is that the country is on the right road towards achieving membership of the European Union by 2007. Our group, that of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, will therefore be voting in favour of Bulgaria’s accession, and will be assuring the country of its critical but constructive support as it continues on its way.
The Bulgarian Government has proved itself capable of fulfilling the accession criteria and of credibly complying with the demands made of it. This positive momentum must continue to be maintained in future, and, with elections due to be held in June, must not be allowed to slow down efforts at reform, particularly with regard to matters already referred to, such as the privatisation of Bulgartabak and the reform of criminal law.
It is true to say that this is a significant day for the European Union, and so I would like to make use of this opportunity to say something about the fundamental characteristic of the forthcoming enlargement round for the European Union as a whole; I refer to the actual compliance with the performance criteria set out in the report. The European Union’s credibility – on which depends the necessary public support not only for the accession process, but also for the work of the European Union as a whole – must be maintained, and it will be so only by the consistent assessment of the candidates for accession, based on their own performance and their own merits. It is for this reason alone – and this I say for Mr Moscovici’s benefit – and not out of any doubt about the European prospects of the two candidates, that my group regards the individual assessment of candidates as so fundamental.
In this respect, the consistent line taken by the Commission is to be welcomed. Commissioner Rehn has made it clear that he will not hesitate to recommend the application of the safeguard clause if he thinks it appropriate. We will see to it that what he has announced he will actually do if the need for it becomes apparent. My group is glad that this House will have a full part to play in this. I also believe – particularly having seen the inglorious behaviour of many Members of the Group of the European People’s Party this lunchtime – that we should be having this debate in Brussels rather than in Strasbourg."@en1
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