Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-06-20-Speech-3-242"
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"en.20070620.24.3-242"2
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"Madam President, this report was initially supposed to be a review of the Commission's Communication from 2005 on the strategy drawn up by the Council that year. However, during the course of the work it turned out that great progress has been made in creating an area of internal security, freedom and justice and that the work has gained new momentum. New documents have been drawn up, new decisions have been made and new action has been taken. Our situation today is very different to a year and a half ago.
That is why I have decided to look forward, rather than look back. This is also the attitude that both the Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection and the Committee on Foreign Affairs, which have worked on this report on closer cooperation, should take. Therefore, it should not seem strange that the report actually amounts to a set of recommendations for the Commission and the Council.
The report is based on two assumptions. First of all, in the modern world, internal and external security are intertwined, they influence each other and are really inextricably linked. Secondly, our legal systems and political attitude need to maintain a balance between civil liberties and the safety of our citizens. This means that if we want to ensure that our citizens are safe and free, both of these values must be promoted beyond the borders of the European Union, but a balance should always be struck between them.
Thus, our foreign policy must always take into account these principles and adapt its instruments, namely our common positions and actions, bilateral and multilateral agreements, accordingly. In other words, we should, for example, include both anti-terrorist and human rights clauses in our agreements with third countries. In its current cooperation with these countries, the European Union should promote both respect for human rights and the joint fight against international terrorism.
Here, in Parliament, we are also aware of the current limitations and barriers which restrict the effectiveness of the European Union in this field. They partly result from our complicated and unclear institutional structure, and partly from a lack of willingness to deepen European integration. Different procedures apply under each pillar to decisions concerning cooperation and external agreements. The joint Community police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters that we have been hearing about for a long time has yet to materialise. It must appear soon.
We expect the forthcoming EU summit to lead to an international conference which will, by the end of the year, produce a new draft treaty and that this treaty will give the Union a legal personality, abolish the current pillar structure, reduce the number of categories that apply to legislation and simplify and unify decision-making procedures.
However, before all this takes place, and before the treaty comes into force, as it may only come into force in 2009, the report proposes the application of a temporary clause, a
in accordance with Article 42 of the Treaty on European Union, in the field of police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters and the policy on legal immigration and the integration of foreigners. This would allow the Council and all of us to introduce the new Community mechanisms into these very important fields. In view of the pressure of immigration on our southern borders and the threat of organised crime on our eastern borders, the failure to make these decisions would be a serious political mistake.
As we are discussing the issue of borders, I would particularly like to draw the Commission’s attention to paragraph 42, which mentions the need for a visa to enter the Unites States, and is particularly galling to European Union citizens. Once again, Parliament calls for this matter to be settled. Finally, I would like to warmly thank all of my collaborators, including those from my political group, the shadow rapporteurs from other political groups and Commissioner Franco Frattini, for their excellent and fruitful cooperation."@en1
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