Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-05-31-Speech-3-049"
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"en.20060531.9.3-049"2
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"Mr President, I, in turn, should like to express my delight at this debate, which I hope will be the first of many, because I think that in debates with heads of government, Parliament can also do its bit to get things going.
I rejoice at Mr Verhofstadt’s coming here to set the ball rolling, for he is indeed one of the people who made an active contribution during the period of reflection. I broadly support his twin-track approach, which amounts to continuing the ratification process while at the same time taking initiatives rather than resting on our laurels. I do not see eye to eye with him, though, when he claims that we can meanwhile indulge in unbridled enlargement. While I am not opposed to enlargement, I do fear that further enlargement without deepening the European Union will lead to something we do not want, namely a free-trade zone.
What I do think is that we should try even harder to explain to our citizens that the right response to what scares them at present, namely the changes and globalisation, is not to withdraw into some sort of economic patriotism or nationalism, but that only a European response is a real response to globalisation; and that this also means that Europe must adjust to the new concept of globalisation and the information society, and we will only succeed if we join forces within Europe.
Indeed, only as one Europe can we be a real global actor that defends our interests and values in this global world of tomorrow. Our citizens are, at present not yet aware of this; they still believe that they will manage by closing themselves off from the outside world. We must tell them that globalisation is irreversible, that it will happen without Europe if we do not take a tough line. We can play a very strong role in globalisation, provided Europe is strong."@en1
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