Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-05-11-Speech-3-148"
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"en.20050511.16.3-148"2
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"Ladies and gentlemen, the history of the EU nations has very definitely not been an easy one. It has seen these nations fight against each other, betray each other and commit atrocities against each other. It was Europeans who came up with the idea of the supremacy of the Aryan race, the Final Solution for other races and the gas chambers. What is more, the rest of Europe initially sat back and did nothing while this was going on.
I regret to say that a line has still not been drawn under this period. Sixty years after the end of the Second World War, there are Members of this House who refuse to vote in favour of resolutions condemning the Holocaust, who persistently put the suffering of the victims of the Second World War on a par with that of its architects, and who distort the past and fail to differentiate properly between the causes and the effects of the most horrendous conflict of all time.
The recent speeches by a number of leading representatives of the Member States and of the European institutions to mark the 60th anniversary of the end of the war have revealed that they are infatuated with the idea that our golden age of prosperity and peace is a direct result of the European Union’s history. For the sake of future generations, we should not forget that this is very far from being the case. Peace in Europe can just as well be attributed to the presence of American troops on European soil, and prosperity can be explained by economic growth in Asia and the United States and the increase in global trade. As far as freedom is concerned, revolutions took place in a number of European countries, including my own, without any help from Brussels.
It is a matter of some concern to me that the democracy and prosperity we have succeeded in achieving are now under threat. Europe’s potential to act as a global player will be reduced by the incomprehensible and unjust European Constitution, which benefits certain countries at the expense of others. The distance that exists between politicians and the real world is a further factor jeopardising Europe’s future, as the citizens of the individual Member States understand ever less of the language spoken by the European institutions and their representatives. Where will Europe end up if its public does not understand its leaders? Will it become easy prey for the worst kind of populism, simply because no one can understand it?
It is my firm belief that no media campaign will ever succeed in boosting public confidence in the idea of a common Europe. The only way this can be done is by implementing practical and easy-to-understand measures that provide solutions to real problems. The inability of European leaders to promote growth and the cowardly, Euronationalist approach to economic matters are a far from adequate response to the hard facts of the global economy.
I represent the citizens of a country that suffered as a result of the Iron Curtain, which fell 15 years ago. Today, however, we are seeing attempts to build new ‘curtains’ around Europe to keep out the United States, Chinese textiles, a cheap workforce and many asylum seekers. Shutting ourselves off from the world will not solve the problems that Europe is facing.
In view of the lack of public interest and the economic slowdown, it is becoming apparent that the way in which the European Union is currently governed will be unsustainable if Europe is to be competitive.
I believe that EU leaders should have the courage to admit to themselves and to the public that the revitalised Lisbon Strategy and the unjust European Constitution are nothing but a dead end, and will not result in more justice, freedom or prosperity. The only correct response to the current state of the global economy and global politics is to be open, to limit our interference in economic matters, to lower taxes, to enable the nation states to operate more flexibly and to coordinate matters at EU level in a sensible fashion, and only in instances where it proves necessary."@en1
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