Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-11-25-Speech-3-317"
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"en.20091125.21.3-317"2
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"Madam President, let me try to be brief.
The western Balkans were taken up by a number of speakers, and rightly so. Let me assure you that we are aware of the issues of Kosovo, and of the need to move forward with them, taking some of the issues that we have inside our Union into account as well.
Bosnia has been taken up by several people, such as Mrs Pack and Mr Swoboda, and let me just make a couple of remarks there. I have spent four full days this year engaging with the political leadership of Bosnia, trying to move them forward and trying to tell them the dangers of slipping behind when the rest of the region is moving ahead. I have probably done too much because at the end of the day, as Mrs Pack said, they have to do this by themselves. It is their country, not our country, but we also have the duty to tell them that, if they do not do it, the rest of the region will move ahead and that will not be good for their country. That is what we have been trying to do, and to a certain extent are still trying to do.
Our process of enlargement, as everyone has been pointing out, is performance-based. It requires reforms. It requires reconciliation. And that applies to each and every one. It did apply to Sweden once upon a time, and we managed. It applies to each and every one.
As to the gentleman who was interested in engaging in debate, I did notice that there were a number of – mainly – gentlemen from the Far Right up there who had their reservations on Turkey, to put it in the mildest possible terms. If I understood the argument, it was that Turkey is too large, too complicated and too Muslim.
If you read Article 49 of the treaty, and that is what we have to base our policies on, it does not make any exceptions for big countries, it does not make any exceptions for complicated cases, and it has no religious criteria.
So that is what we have to abide by. I listened to the moving words on the Christian heritage, and there is much truth in that. All the Catholics and Orthodox or Protestants and Anglicans might interpret that in very different ways, but I would caution against defining the Jewish heritage out of Europe. They are not Christians, but they are, with all of the problems in our history, also part of our Europe of the past, the present and the future.
I would also argue that it would equally be a mistake to define citizens of Muslim faith, be they inside our existing Member States, be they in Bosnia, be they somewhere else or be they in Turkey, and exclude them from the applicability of Article 49 of the treaty. I think that would be a mistake.
I listened with interest in that respect to Mrs Koppa representing Greece in her comments on both the challenges in the western Balkans and reconciliation with Turkey, and I have noted the steps and statements made by Prime Minister Papandreou lately.
First, if this is appropriate from the Presidency point of view, I join those Members who have paid tribute to Commissioner Rehn for the work that he has done over the past five years. Much has been achieved. It may be good for your successor that there is still something left to do, but much has been done.
Could I just finally pick up one of my favourite items. Someone mentioned, as sometimes happens in this debate, the question of absorption capacity – that we simply cannot absorb too many countries. I do not like the word. I do not see our Union as ‘absorbing’ nations. I do not know if we have absorbed Britain. And I do not know if France wants to be absorbed. And I hope Sweden will never be absorbed.
I see our Union as enriching the countries when we enter, and I have yet to see an enlargement that has made our Union weaker. Every single enlargement, although it has been difficult, has made our Union stronger, has made it richer, has made it more ambitious, and I for one do not belong to those who believe that history has come to an end. Article 49 applies.
Finally, one of the gentlemen said there are other countries as well that we have not debated on. That is true. Article 49 applies to each and every European country, including those that have not yet been mentioned in the debate today.
I also express our appreciation for the very broad support for the policy of enlargement that has been expressed throughout this debate by all of the representatives of all of the major political factions here. I think that is a source of strength.
I did listen to the debate. You are not part of one of the major groups. I am sorry about that.
Mr Severin was one of those who mentioned that this is a process that we must also anchor in the hearts and minds of people. I do agree with that, but we should also recognise that this requires determined political leadership by each and every one of us. If you look back on the history of our Union, it is easy to note that very little in the history of European integration has happened because of some sudden groundswell of public opinion demanding it.
Nearly everything has been the result of visionary, far-sighted, often difficult and demanding political leadership, but we have also subsequently won the support of our citizens for what we are doing.
I said that I was Prime Minister of my country when we entered the European Union. We fought a very bitter referendum campaign. We won that narrowly. We had public opinion against the European Union for quite some time. We are now, if you look at the public opinion polls, one of the more Euro-positive countries in Europe. It took political leadership to achieve that. It does not happen by itself.
Let me also say, when we go to the more difficult areas of Europe, that reconciliation is not easy. That requires a lot of that leadership, and reconciliation has yet to be fully achieved in all parts of Europe."@en1
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"(Applause from the centre left)"1
"(Interjection from William (The Earl of) Dartmouth: ‘Did you listen to the debate?’)"1
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