Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-09-07-Speech-3-009"
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"en.20050907.2.3-009"2
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".
Mr President, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, ladies and gentlemen, we cannot regard the despicable terrorist attacks in London on 7 July as anything other than yet another assault on our Western civilisation and on our shared ideals of democracy, human rights, freedom and peace. On behalf, then, of the Group of the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats, I would like to express to you, in your capacity as the British President-in-Office of the Council, our sympathy with the victims and also our profound sense of solidarity. When the news reached us in the Conference of Presidents, where we were at the time, we were deeply impressed by the way the people of London responded with wise and calm determination and got back to something like normal life. If terrorism is to be denied any chance of destroying our Western civilisation, that is what we need, and for that I pay tribute to the people of London.
The terrorist attacks on London are the latest in a series of appalling events – New York and Washington, Bali, Casablanca, Istanbul, Madrid on 11 March 2004, Beslan a year ago, as well as others. Today’s debate must, as it is intended to do, make clear that we will be unstinting in our efforts to wage war on terrorism with words and deeds and with the utmost determination.
Although the European Parliament, the Commission and the Member States have recently moved closer to a common approach to combating terrorism, the problem is that many of the measures adopted have not been properly transposed into the laws of individual Member States or have not been implemented by these within the time limits specified. I therefore urge the Commission and the Presidency of the Council to do everything possible to ameliorate that state of affairs. It was as long ago as 2001 that the European Parliament defined what role the European Union should play in the war on terrorism. Mr Watson, who was at the time the Chairman of the relevant committee, drafted that report, as he did the 2002 reports on the European arrest warrant and the common concept of terrorism. It was on 7 June, only a few weeks ago, that we adopted a very comprehensive package of eight reports on anti-terrorism.
We know – and both the President-in-Office of the Council and the Commissioner said so in their speeches – that Europe must act as one in combating terrorism from within and without. That does of course mean that the Member States must work closely together, but also, and especially, that there must be action on the part of the institutions of the European Community.
The war on terrorism is above all else an intellectual and political struggle, for the object of terrorism is to destroy the free social order under which we live; it is for that reason that it cannot coexist with democracy. If democracy is to fight back against terrorist attacks, that requires no more and no less than that we avail ourselves of all the legal means available. I am profoundly convinced that the war on terrorism can be won only if we wage it within the bounds set by our democracy and by the rule of law, not least international law. It follows that there must be no lawless areas when it comes to combating terrorism, but what that also means is that we must now regard it as our common task to guarantee the security of our citizens wherever we can.
In the aftermath of the Second World War, through the process of European integration, the European Union was very successful in bringing people prosperity. One of the core tasks of this European Union of ours is now, by means of common action, to bring them more security. The more we – by which I mean you, the British Presidency of the Council, the Commission, all of us together – succeed in guaranteeing that the public are kept safe from terrorism and criminal activity, the more the European Union will, in turn, be accepted. Let us all, then, take action on a truly common basis.
What I have to say to the Islamic world is that terrorism, in the minds of those who spread it and engage in it, is often associated with, and justified by, religion. To justify it in those terms is to pervert Islam. Over recent years, I have visited something like twenty Islamic states, most of whose people, along with their governments, want peace rather than a clash of civilisations. So can we please never fall into the error of identifying terrorism justified in Islamic terms with Islam as a whole? We want, instead, to work together with Islamic states, in peace and as partners.
It is now our common task to do something real and tangible. My colleague Mr Mayor Oreja, our coordinator Mrs Klamt, and Mr Kirkhope, will have more to say about that, and it will be very practical. What matters now is that we should not content ourselves with words, but do what has to be done, with Parliament, the Commission and the Council acting together. In so doing, we have to make it clear that we are willing to engage in dialogue with all those who seek to hammer out the issues peaceably, but we will wage war on those who do not seek peace. There must be no doubt as to our determination, and so I hope that our common cause against terrorism – which, Mr President-in-Office, is yours, the Commission’s and our own – will meet with success."@en1
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