Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-09-05-Speech-3-071"
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"en.20070905.2.3-071"2
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"Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I think this has been an extremely useful, interesting and highly opportune debate, all the more so in the light of recent events in Denmark and Germany, as mentioned previously.
I shall relay many of your suggestions, concerns and advice to the Council – as is my duty – and I should like to assure you that the Portuguese Presidency is, naturally, open to cooperation and dialogue with Parliament, having regard to the legal provisions by which we are governed.
This is naturally a difficult and complex debate. Some people think that we should go further; others think we have gone too far and should perhaps take a step back. Some people criticise whilst others applaud; some condemn, others encourage. However, we all, of course, agree that we must wage a firm and determined fight against this new scourge known as terrorism and that we must in no way call any truces in this fight. This is for us too a learning process, a continuous process of improvement. This is a new threat which was not known to us before and which we were not used to fighting and tackling. We therefore naturally need to be constantly improving, learning and active to ensure that there is no repetition of attacks such as those we have witnessed.
We have worked hard and, quite rightly, cooperated and collaborated widely with third countries. This is an international fight. No Member State standing alone could effectively face either the struggle or the threat which lie ahead of us and neither could any organisation or any group of countries standing alone. We need very strong international cooperation.
In preparing for this debate, I made a note of the set of measures and actions we have taken in the field of prevention, protection, pursuit and response to terrorist attacks. I concluded that, although there is still much to be done, a great deal has already been done and we shall have to try to improve in those areas where we have not done as well as we should have. Here it is essential to mention the evaluation mechanisms which we have set up specifically to enable us, after the measures have been in operation for some time, to draw conclusions to help us to improve the measures taken.
I should like to say that for the Portuguese Presidency as for the Council, the fight against terrorism can only be waged and will only be waged, I can assure you, within the framework of respect for our fundamental values and principles, the very points at risk in our fight against terrorism: that is, the defence of those principles and those values. It would not do for us to neglect or disregard them in our fight against terrorism. The Portuguese Presidency will be particularly vigilant on that point and will not compromise.
Finally, I should like to say – this point has received great attention here and I mentioned it myself in my first speech – that the Presidency is working in close coordination with the Secretary-General of the Council in examining the issue of the counter-terrorism coordinator, that is, how to extend his powers and capabilities to enable him effectively to play the role for which the position was originally created. I realise that there might be some delay here. The Portuguese Presidency undertakes to speed up the debate within the Council’s bodies and, at the appropriate time, announce the appointment of a new counter-terrorism coordinator.
As I said, I will of course take away advice, suggestions and concerns from this debate. We are not and never shall be indifferent to your points of view; we do not claim, and never have claimed, to be perfect or to say that all we have done was well done, irreproachable or not open to criticism. On the contrary, our efforts will always be directed towards improvement in order to ensure that our societies always remain free, open and democratic societies, standing up to those societies who do not want that to be the case. Thank you very much."@en1
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