Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-04-22-Speech-3-384"
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"en.20090422.55.3-384"2
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"Mr President, Mr Svoboda, honourable Members, I believe that citizens following this debate on passenger rights and the new laws we hope to adopt in order to strengthen a system of freedom that characterises the European Union, will realise today that the Commission, Council and Parliament, and their respective staff, are not ivory towers where issues are discussed that have nothing to do with citizens, or else invade their lives in a negative way, but institutions with citizens’ interests at heart, seeking to defend their rights and, I would emphasise, to protect their fundamental freedoms: no one is free unless they can move around freely from one part of the Union to another.
That is why, when I asked for your confidence when my nomination was to be confirmed by Parliament, I stressed that one of my priorities during my term of office as Commissioner for Transport would be to protect passenger rights. I believe that today we have together sent a positive signal and we have demonstrated through clear evidence that progress can be made and that the European institutions are close to citizens and are on their side.
As has emerged over the course of the debate, there are no differences of substance between the members of the various political groups; everyone has emphasised, in agreement with the Commission and also the Council, a desire to truly build, as Vice-President Kratsa-Tsagaropoulou said, a Europe of citizens.
That is why I attach great importance to the key step we are taking today and will take with tomorrow’s vote; of course, such complicated subjects as these, with complex transport systems and different regulation from one country to another, require an in-depth approach, as well as instances of compromise. Every rule adopted is the product of compromise, of protecting different interests.
I would argue that this time, however, the general interest should prevail, that is to say the protection of citizens’ freedom and the freedom of passengers in all existing transport systems, because it would be inconsistent to protect only those who travel by air or by train, and not those who travel by boat, bus or coach. Of course, let me repeat, differences of opinion may exist, and there are differences between the Commission and the Council and also among certain Members of this House as regards the regulation of transport by water; there are those who would prefer separate legislation for river and sea transport.
The Commission has confirmed its position, I think the right thing to do is to have a single form of regulation, but it does not really matter, what matters today is that we grasp the good news of the strong political will of Parliament, Commission and Council to guarantee passengers rights, especially the rights of passengers with reduced mobility. It is not simply, I was pleased to hear, a question of rights and above all freedoms for people with disabilities; giving millions of passengers with reduced mobility the opportunity to move around freely within the European Union also means allowing these people to contribute towards the EU’s growth, since the movement of these millions of people brings welfare, develops transport companies and creates opportunities for tourism in all sorts of places.
That is why I am pleased and I would like to thank the two rapporteurs, the Council and, of course, the Commission staff, whom I always thank, since they enable me to present proposals to Parliament and the Council.
This is a particularly warm thank-you, because I believe that today the European institutions as a whole are showing that they pay close attention to the 500 million European citizens, who can sometimes be suspicious of them; but I think that today those who have followed this debate will change their minds and have confidence in the European institutions, which seek to be ever closer to the people."@en1
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