Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-03-22-Speech-3-233"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20060322.17.3-233"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, while cross-border cooperation between political parties in Europe is nothing new, even parties from the same ideological stable often represent different political cultures. Regardless of the planned injection of millions of euros to support them, they will never be able to agree politically on any more than the lowest common denominator, which has hitherto been confined to the content of election manifestos and electoral appeals. Not even European parties, to be sure, will be able to extricate us from this dilemma.
Although it is agreed that the European Union is in crisis, its institutions have chosen once again to pump in vast sums of money – the recipients this time being the European political parties – instead of finally tackling the causes of this crisis. The reasons for the all-too-familiar lack of trust in the EU leaders are manifold: unrealistic promises made at the time of accession of various Member States, over-hasty eastward enlargement of the EU against the will of most of its citizens, a European constitution dictated from above, increased contributions and now the idea of European taxes.
It is always fascinating to observe just how credulous the political establishment of the European Union actually believes its citizens to be. Plummeting turnout figures, ‘no’ votes in referendums and growing exasperation with the EU are not interpreted for a moment as criticism of the Union but are dismissed as sharp reminders to national governments. We shall not be able to change this mindset, however, through new European political parties; whether it suits us or not, the only way to build trust is through a good record of achievement.
The EU has somehow managed not only to squander goodwill but also to sleepwalk through decisive developments or even to guide them in the wrong direction, and the public impact of these blunders can be seen not least in the form of rising unemployment figures and huge increases in euro prices. Even if we invest the planned annual amount of EUR 8.4 million in the party project, there is little chance that this will do anything to create a sense of European identity. We can only achieve that sense of identity if we give our critical citizenry the opportunity at long last to play a genuine direct part in major decisions such as enlargement and the constitution."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples