Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-02-14-Speech-3-258"
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"en.20070214.20.3-258"2
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".
Madam President, the reason why I omitted to congratulate you is that I was not in fact thinking of the great region of Westphalia-Lippe, which Mr Brok, too, calls home.
Thank you, Madam President, Commissioner, honourable Members, for this exchange of views. In any debate of this kind, there will of course – how could it be otherwise? – be differences and divergent views, but there is also agreement, and many of you made reference to this morning's debate, in which, too, there were of course considerable differences of opinion, yet unanimity prevailed when it came to the question of how to combat international terrorism while also maintaining our common values.
A society such as our own is pluralistic and open. The public’s right to security is, of course, one of the fundamental freedoms, but how can that security be guaranteed? Although this is an area that can, perhaps, be regulated only by the Member States, it is becoming more and more apparent – as a number of your Members have indicated – that there is a need for coordination, that is to say, for cooperation across borders, which also includes cross-border cooperation between Europe and the United States.
If we are to talk today about the causes of terrorism, it might be said that there is a holistic and long-term approach to it. One of your Members warned that perhaps the wrong measures might be taken under the heading of ‘prevention’, which I see as a very important consideration.
I would like to go back to the example of last November’s Tripoli conference between the African Union and the European Union on the subject of migration. How we handle ‘good governance’ in these countries and give their peoples the prospect of education and work, are major issues. Do they actually have any prospects at all? Or are they the potential victims of those whose promises to them ultimately result in their deaths? This I see as something from which the European Union cannot avert its gaze. As in many other areas, there was vigorous debate among us a number of years ago concerning the European security strategy, when we came to agree that the fight against international terrorism is essential, but also that it called for a highly graduated range of instruments, one of which is prevention.
None of these measures, however, can be activated at the press of a button, and they cannot be put into effect overnight. Doing so will demand staying power and proper coordination.
I would now like to follow up a number of things that both the Commission and I – in my introductory remarks – mentioned, one of which has to do with the importance of establishing what role the United Nations is to play in this. What else can we do? I think it is important that Members of your House – not alone, but with others – should continue a dialogue on this subject with your counterparts in other regions that may perhaps also be suffering from terrorism. In saying this, I am thinking back to the establishment of the Europe-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly, where one important approach might be to discuss these issues and arrive at an agreement on how to institute coordination and cooperation.
Let me, once more, sound a note of warning against simplistic answers and quick fixes. What is needed within the European Union is preparation for the long haul and a coordinated approach."@en1
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