Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-12-12-Speech-3-251"
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"en.20071212.28.3-251"2
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"Mr. Chairman, Commissioner Fratini, Thank you for the understanding and the presentation on the intentions of the Commission. I find it symbolic that precisely today, when the Charter of Fundamental Rights was signed, we are discussing a topic directly related to it. For the growing extremism, the growing influence of extreme right-wing parties and organisations is a direct threat to the existence of the European Union.
It might sound too strong but our Union is based on clear principles and its existence is possible thanks to the fact that peace, solidarity, tolerance, mutual respect among ethnic and religious communities, and the peaceful co-existence of nations prevailed in Europe 50 years ago. Today, the extreme right-wing attacks exactly these principles; it attacks the very heart of the European Union, without which it could not possibly exist. But our Union is not an abstract construct; it is not just another administrative level of governance. It is a union whose mission is to defend and protect the values underlying the whole world.
Willing or unwilling, prepared or unprepared, we have to understand that there are people deprived of fundamental rights, suffering from political reprisals, oppressed by non-democratic regimes or discriminated against on the basis of race, ethnic origin and religion in all parts of the world. And, in all parts of the world, there is the hope that the European Union will support them and that the spirit of tolerance, guaranteed civil rights and social security can reach their country, too. Can we be powerful and convincing in the outside world if we fail to cope with the problems in our own backyard? How can we explain to the people who pin their last hopes on us that immigrants die just because of their origin, that ethnic minorities are subjected to systematic discrimination, that partisan ideologies challenge the equality of women or define homosexualism as a disease? How can we explain that we are on the way of forgetting the gloomiest pages of our history and that young people praise Hitler and anti-Semitism is turning into the vogue of the day? I cannot accept this and neither can my collegues Socialists.
I believe that there is no political group in this Parliament to remain indifferent to the fact that right-wing extremism, racism, xenophobia are gaining new grounds. Didn’t we become witness today how a historic landmark in the development of the European Union was disgraced in a vulgar manner by a noisy minority that could come back stronger, more aggressive and better organised in 2009? Under the hypocritical demand for a referendum, it challenged not merely the Charter of Fundamental Rights but fundamental rights themselves. It is this behaviour that we see also in many national parliaments encourages extremists who would resort to yet another punitive action tomorrow, inspired by this political circus. We must name problems very clearly and seek solutions together. Therefore we shall put this issue on the agenda of the Parliament over and over again. Because extremism is an all-European challenge which necessitates the cocerted efforts at the European, national, regional and local level.
If the European Commission is the custodian of the EU Treaties, then the European Parliament is the custodian of the values and I believe that together we shall be able to withstand a rising wave familiar from the recent past. And that we shall stop it, without violating fundamental rights like the right of free expression, the right of assocation, the freedom of the media. For one can fight for democracy only according to the rules of democracy. Breaking these rules will mean that extremism has prevailed. Thank you."@en1
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