Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-07-09-Speech-3-321"
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"en.20080709.32.3-321"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, I think it is right to conclude that enlargement has been a success. I am glad to hear confirmation that countries to which we previously gave clear pledges and a clear EU perspective still enjoy those advantages. However, I am seriously concerned that the atmosphere becomes cooler every time we discuss enlargement. Words such as ‘adequate’, ‘absorption capacity’, ‘political consolidation’, ‘risks to social and economic cohesion’ are increasingly used. These are words which, to my ears, do not sound like a vision or a goal but more like a way to avoid committing ourselves to possible future enlargements. More and more references are made to enlargement fatigue in public opinion at home, but not enough is being done to change that opinion.
It is not by chance that Germany and France, two countries that had waged war with one another for centuries, were the very countries which launched the entire EU project. It is not by chance that it was precisely the leaders of France and Germany who had a vision for Europe’s future. They understood that the European Union was, first and foremost, a project for peace and security, much more than just an economic project. It is this vision and this kind of leadership which I am really looking for and which I so often find lacking here. I therefore appreciate Commissioner Rehn’s plain speaking: we must not create a waiting room for countries which aspire to membership, and enlargement has a future. I am particularly grateful to the Commissioner for that."@en1
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