Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-07-09-Speech-3-307"
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"en.20080709.32.3-307"2
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"Mr President, let me begin by expressing my sincere thanks to Mr Brok for his willingness to engage in very constructive cooperation. The message is fairly clear: the enlargement process will not be interrupted, but we all need to do even more to prepare ourselves. That applies to those of us who are in the European Union and those who want to come into the European Union. Better preparation, of course, also entails institutional reforms and consolidation of the European Union. I need hardly add, moreover, that better preparation also means unequivocal acceptance of the Copenhagen criteria, which must be applied and enforced, not merely incorporated into the statute book.
I am also very grateful to Mr Brok for adopting our idea of a Black Sea Union together with Jan Marinus Wiersma, albeit perhaps in a somewhat more cautious form. The point is that we must send clear signals to Ukraine and to the other countries of the Black Sea region that are covered by the neighbourhood policy. In order to help these countries, however, it is also important to include Turkey and Russia in this cooperation. I do value the ideas of the French Presidency on a Mediterranean Union, but we must not sideline the Black Sea region. We must fly the flag there too, and the European Union must make appropriate cooperation proposals.
As far as the Balkan countries are concerned, Mr Brok makes a few offers in his report. As he emphasised clearly and precisely today, these are optional offers. ‘Wait a while with your reforms – there is ample time’ is a message that no one should be receiving from here. No, the reforms must be expedited, both in Croatia and, of course, in the other countries. Particularly when a new government takes office, as has now happened in Serbia, our signal must be clear. It must say, ‘We want you in the European Union as soon as possible, but we cannot offer an alternative to your reform process. You yourselves will have to pursue it, and you will have to apply a pro-European strategy.’
The Union is incomplete without the Balkan countries of south-eastern Europe, but the work must be done in those countries, and it must be done as quickly as possible, so that we can build a new Europe together."@en1
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