Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-06-07-Speech-2-304"

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"Mr President, the new Member States have brought new linguistic and national minorities with them into the EU, which is ever more characterised by linguistic diversity. New demands are being made of the EU policy on minorities, which is laudably addressed by the report. Already, 46 million inhabitants of the EU now have mother tongues other than their countries’ main languages. The fact that the number of MEPs per country decreases when the EU receives new Member States is a problem. Then, linguistic and national minorities are the first to disappear from the European Parliament. Four minorities disappeared as a result of the last enlargement, and the process will continue if measures are not taken. The issue affects the basis of democracy, since everyone should be represented in, and recognised by, the body to whose legislation they are subject. As the rapporteur quite correctly says, one prerequisite for an inclusive minority policy is adequate representation in political decision-making. Given the way in which the enlargements are now planned, just about all minorities will disappear from Parliament. That is not desirable. The issue could be solved, for example, by the EU establishing 30 parliamentary seats earmarked for national linguistic minorities. Obviously, it could be difficult to decide precisely how these were to be defined, but the problem must not be exaggerated. In most cases, we are concerned with population groups that have recognised status in their countries and that are neither anonymous nor invisible. Europe’s diversity must be made visible. To take away from Europe’s minorities the opportunity of achieving even some fragile representation is a serious matter, affecting the ways in which stability can be secured on our continent. Many wars in Europe have been the result of majorities oppressing smaller groups. I hope that Parliament and the Commission will tackle this issue."@en1

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