Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-11-12-Speech-1-107"
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"en.20071112.19.1-107"2
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".
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, we are in a very difficult situation. It is difficult because the events that have transpired in Rome merely bring to the surface something that we have not seen until now, or did not wish to see. The murder that occurred there was a profoundly condemnable, abhorrent act. The reactions unleashed by this murder are alarming. However, the fact that a single offender who commits a criminal act is embedded in his judgment as part of a large group of people who, so to speak, are held collectively responsible for the acts of one individual, is nothing new in the history of humanity – it has always occurred – but it is always equally condemnable. Therefore, the first thing we must do is to differentiate. We must look very carefully. It is all true: integration of the Roma into our society has not been working for a very long time. This is also linked to the fact that there is very little commitment to integrating the Roma into our society. They are a difficult people, with their own autonomous culture, and it requires a great deal of effort to integrate them, but it can be done. It can be done if we respect them and their culture.
Nevertheless, it must be made clear that a state under the rule of law must be able to ensure its survival by all constitutional means. A state under the rule of law must use every means at its disposal to maintain public safety and preserve order. What is the best way to do this? The best way is not to generalise but to assess each individual case, and that is exactly what must happen in Europe. When it comes to freedom of movement, we have to check, in each individual case, what right a citizen of the Union has gained and, when he moves from one country to another, what rights form the basis of the way he should be treated.
In the European Union, we guarantee freedom of movement. All citizens of European states – at least, those which are part of the Schengen area – enjoy this integral freedom of movement. This does not mean that they can do what they like when they move from one state to another. They must respect the rights and laws there; but, conversely, the state that belongs to the Schengen area must also respect the rights of the citizen of the Union on its territory. It is not possible to say in a general way‚ ‘it is this group’s fault, and this group has to go, because none of its members have work permits, or because they do not fit in with our idea of our culture, or because they are all unemployed, or because they are begging’. Instead, in each and every case, we must ascertain what rights a citizen has, just as in each and every case it is ascertained what rights he has violated. This is precisely the task that the Italian and Romanian Governments are now undertaking, and that the Commission must also undertake.
Here I must say, Commissioner Frattini, that you are not doing justice to your role. I was extremely surprised to read your remarks in
. Until then, I had the impression that you were a very moderate Commissioner. You won the respect of my group because you had hitherto worked very sensitively in what is a sensitive area of politics. However, the remarks that you made in
regarding work permits and people’s income structure – suggesting that it was possible simply to go into a camp, ask someone how they earned a living and, if they could not explain on the spot what they lived off, deport them – are reminiscent of a totally arbitrary state. We do not live in such a state, however. It is your task, Commissioner Frattini – especially as the Commissioner responsible for human rights – to defend the principles of the European Union and not to promote yourself again as a minister in a future Italian Government when required."@en1
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