Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-07-05-Speech-3-009"
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"en.20060705.2.3-009"2
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"Mr President, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, Mr President of the Commission, ladies and gentlemen, the world is going crazy about football, but Europe has already won. The world champion will be from the European Union, and the four best teams come from its Member States. The President of the Commission has just been talking about self-confidence.
When Mr Schulz comes to make his speech, he will tell us all about how the Greens should behave. I am always reticent about giving advice and do not want to use my speaking time to answer Mr Schulz’ interjections.
Something that you, Mr President of the European Council, will have to address is the relationship with Russia. While that is something that we, of course, very much welcome, we also argue that we need Russia to be a solid, stable, and – it is to be hoped – democratic partner. It has to be said, though, that we have to stop making it a matter of policy to give the Russians hugs and pats on the shoulder; while we say ‘yes’ to shared interests, including in energy supply, we also have to tell the Russians that human rights have to be guaranteed. A few days ago, I had a visit from the lawyer acting for the industrialist Mr Khodorkovsky. The way in which this man is being treated in Russian jails is quite unacceptable, and there are many other examples of this sort of thing. Where these things are concerned, we have to make our voices heard.
Mr President of the European Council, the President of the Finnish Parliament, Mr Lipponen, told the conference of parliamentarians that we, the Austrian Presidency, and the Commission organised in Brussels, that there is also to be a conference of Members of this House and members of the national parliaments. This is something of which we are very much in favour, believing as we do that we in this House and the national parliaments must work much more closely together. If we do this, dismantle certain prejudices that exist, and work together on the European project, then success will be ours. On behalf of the Group of the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats, I wish your Presidency much success. Where our shared future in Europe and in the world are at stake, we will be right behind you.
So let me say that self-confidence is what we should have – but without being cocky. Peaceful competition – which is what the footballers are now teaching us about – is a wonderful thing, and that peaceful competition and fair play are what we need in Europe and throughout the world. If we take them as the basis for our actions, we will be successful. Who better to embody that truth than Finland?
Mr Vanhanen, the meeting we group chairmen had with you in Helsinki was a good one, being effective, professional, transparent and unspectacular, for it is generally the case that failure is the lot of those who announce – or seek – something spectacular, for they cannot come up with what they promised.
Europe is like a chain; so, too, are the presidencies. We have had an Austrian Presidency; the Presidency is now held by the Finns. After them will come German, Portuguese, Slovenian and then French Presidencies. Every link in this chain must be strong. It is when this continuity is present that all presidencies are successful. Experience shows that it is not just the presidencies held by the so-called big countries that are successful, but, very often, on the contrary, the smaller countries were. We wish the Finns much success and are right behind you.
It is on 25 March 2007 that we will be commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the Treaties of Rome, and this date falls within the German Presidency rather than the Finnish. We very much welcome the Commission’s proposal that there should be a joint statement by the European Council, the Commission and Parliament. Our group proposes that work on preparing the substance of this statement and the organisational aspects of it should begin under the Finnish Presidency, and we propose that a working group be set up to deal with the preparations at the political level. While the next presidency must of course be involved in this, the work must be started now, under the Finnish Presidency.
It is not only the Summit that is to be held on 25 March, important though that of course is, and in respect of which the German Federal Chancellor has extended an invitation to Berlin, but there is also some sort of event to be staged in Rome, where the Treaties of Rome were signed fifty years ago, and I am given to understand that the Catholic Church wants to organise something.
I would be very glad, my good Mr Cohn-Bendit, if the Greens, with whom we are in friendly competition where the unification of Europe is concerned, were to get involved in the same way as business and the trade unions are, for this Europe is something in which we all share, and is not the property of any one political family; it is for that reason that everyone should get involved."@en1
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"(Applause and interruption by Mr Schulz)"1
"(Interruption by Mr Cohn-Bendit)"1
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