Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-09-28-Speech-3-274"
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"en.20050928.24.3-274"2
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".
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, we Europeans agree that the world needs the United Nations; and moreover, that it needs the United Nations to be strong.
We cannot afford to let the UN be a second-tier player; it must take centre stage. For only the UN has the potential to overcome the challenges of our time through a multilateral approach and on a global scale. Parliament must support it on this path, as we need a strong United Nations. Incidentally, I believe that we should be conducting this debate in Brussels and not in Strasbourg.
Rarely in its sixty-year history has the UN been so much the focus of public attention; rarely were reforms as important or necessary as this year.
The ultimate achievements of the Outcome Document are unsatisfactory. Nevertheless, my group, the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, is of the opinion that the progress made is to be acknowledged, whilst things we failed to achieve are to be discussed even more intensively than before.
The glass is half full. The EU now has the task of helping to fill it to the brim. Parliament, in particular, must see the result of the Summit as an opportunity. We view Parliament as a co-architect of the continuing reform process. As Members of the European Parliament, we hold the key to securing and strengthening acceptance of the UN by the people, driving democratisation of the organisation forward successfully, and in particular ensuring that millions of people have access to food, clean water and better health services.
The Millennium Development Goals must be implemented. Progress on this by Member States is unsatisfactory. The Outcome Document of the Summit does not lay down a precise timetable to hold the Member States to their commitments. This is disappointing. On the other hand, as Mrs Kinnock mentioned, there is the endorsement by the USA of the Millennium Development Goals, unexpected in its clarity, which is a very positive development on which we must build. I think that we should take our friends in the USA at their word.
My group warmly welcomes the creation of a Peacebuilding Commission. This is a decision that will increase the profile of the UN in crisis regions. It must be the task of the EU to provide valuable support for the setting-up and operation of this Commission. The EU is one of the world’s leading peace-builders: as a donor, a helper and a political force. Incidentally, this must be made a great deal clearer than it has been within the UN system. We are pleased that we and the Commissioner are so unanimous on this.
An initial step, on which I should also like an opinion from the Commission and the Council, would be to combine the representatives of Council and Commission in New York and at the other UN sites.
The ALDE Group regards the promotion of democracy as another important task. The establishment of a Democracy Fund is an important step in the right direction, and further measures could include the establishment of a ‘caucus of democracies’ within the General Assembly. A parliamentary assembly should also be considered.
One thing is clear, and that is that the reform of the UN is not complete and must be continued consistently. This applies in particular to the Security Council. Kofi Annan’s proposals are well-known. It is now up to the General Assembly to decide on one by the end of the year. In addition, we in Parliament maintain the vision of a permanent seat for the European Union as soon as the political, legal and constitutional conditions for this are met. This is emphasised once more in our resolution, which is to be put to the vote tomorrow."@en1
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