Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-12-15-Speech-2-361"
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"en.20091215.21.2-361"2
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"Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, I would also like to thank the Commissioner for his clarity of judgment which effectively puts the power to regulate this area back in the hands of the Member States.
I must say that I am convinced, more than most, of the need for our institutions to be secular and just as convinced that religion is not the solution to any political problem. At the same time, we cannot solve political issues by waging war on religions.
It is precisely for this reason that I will explain my thinking by means of a paradox: what would happen if we applied the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights, that is, if, at the same time, we applied the reasoning which obliges us to remove crucifixes from Italian classrooms to all places where crosses are displayed on the grounds of public interest? What should be done about this flag, the flag of Sweden, and what should be done about this flag, the flag of Finland, and the flag of the Slovak Republic, and the flag of Malta, and the flag of Denmark, and the flag of Greece, and the flag of the United Kingdom which has three crosses, no less?
Because, ladies and gentlemen, the reason why these crosses appear on these flags is no different from the reason why crucifixes are displayed in Italian classrooms, and it is not a religious reason but rather a cultural and traditional one. Let us therefore leave it to the Member States to judge, on a case by case basis, the suitability of solutions in line with the sensitivities of their peoples, in keeping with their religious freedom and the secular nature of the institutions.
This is all we are asking and we are doing so because, above and beyond anything else, it is not the abstract concept of the law which must be upheld, but every individual’s personal truth and desire for the infinite."@en1
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