Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-02-19-Speech-4-086"
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"en.20090219.27.4-086"2
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"President Klaus, it is a pleasure for me and everyone here to welcome you today, during the Czech Presidency of the European Union, to the European Parliament, the democratic representation of the citizens of a reunited Europe.
Let me conclude by saying this: in this context, the elections to the European Parliament in June are also extremely important. I can only agree with you, Mr President, when, in your New Year speech, you appealed to the citizens of the Czech Republic to turn out in high numbers for the European Parliament elections.
Mr President, I wish the Czech Republic a successful and fruitful remainder of its Presidency of the European Union.
Throughout history, Mr President, your country has always been at the heart of Europe and has played a large part in shaping European history. As far back as the fifteenth century, Charles IV, as Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, made Prague the cultural and spiritual capital of Europe. We remember that the Bohemian King George of Poděbrady was one of the first great Europeans who, as early as 1462, attempted to establish a European community of states. In continuation of the tradition of your country, as the strong heart of European thinking and action, we also appreciate the important role that the Czech Republic is currently playing in our common European Union, a role that accentuated through the active discharge of the EU Presidency that the Czech Republic holds for the current six-month period.
Right from its first few days, the Czech Presidency was confronted with considerable challenges, not least the war in Gaza and the gas crisis, which led to twelve Member States of the European Union being denied their normal energy supplies. The Czech Presidency and especially the Czech Prime Minister and President of the European Council, Mirek Topolánek, and the Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs, Alexandr Vondra, whom I warmly welcome to this House, as well as the Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg, have played a very positive role.
The Czech Republic currently bears a huge responsibility for the European Union. With this in mind, I would like to congratulate the Czech Republic, in particular with regard to the successful ratification, with a large majority, of the Treaty of Lisbon by the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic on Wednesday.
This agreement underlines the readiness of the Presidency to continue the ratification process quickly and with a positive result and its desire to contribute to the success of the new treaty, which will be so important in terms of our ability to cope with the huge challenges of the 21st century.
Mr President, the European Parliament has taken note of the legislative priorities of the Czech Presidency and has included them in its work programme. The Joint Parliamentary Meeting that was held in the European Parliament at the beginning of this week with ‘A New Deal for European Economic Recovery’ as its theme was also particularly important in view of the current economic crisis.
Mr President, I believe we are both of the opinion that the current clearly perceptible national protectionist tendencies are disturbing. We must work together to counteract these tendencies, because we are all under obligation to maintain an open and free internal market, from which, at the end of the day, we all benefit. In this respect, too, we have high hopes for the Czech Presidency and also for you, Mr President, as you are known to be an advocate of a strong and free internal market.
An old saying that has been passed down from the Kingdom of Bohemia states that it is better to spend two years negotiating than two weeks waging war. All of us, including you, Mr President, and the people of your country, understand the value of dialogue, of compromise and of a cooperation, things that have been successfully pursued in the European Union for more than half a century."@en1
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