Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-03-13-Speech-2-436-000"
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"en.20120313.20.2-436-000"2
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". – Madam President, it is true that it was not a question but a statement. I must say that it was a silly statement. Let us now speak on the real subject.
For many years and even decades, we have been attempting to create a new Europe with as few borders as possible. A Europe in which everyone feels at home, in particular, as Mr Daul mentioned, our fellow Europeans, the citizens of Eastern Europe, following the fall of the iron curtain. For the members of the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament, there is only one Europe. Whether people come from the east, west, north or south, they are all inhabitants of this continent and they deserve our respect. They are all people who can make mistakes and who may occasionally create an unpleasant impression in their neighbourhood. However, there is no difference between the people from the eastern and central parts of Europe and those from the west.
We want to create a Europe of this kind with all the fundamental freedoms and with the opportunity to work anywhere in the continent. The developments that have taken place in this area are very poor. We have already discussed this today in the context of the threat of suspending the Schengen Agreement. The previous Danish Government suddenly expressed the desire to close its borders. Quite apart from the fact that it currently holds the Presidency of the European Council, I am very grateful to the current Danish Government for reversing this decision.
There is one government which is continuing to prevent Romania and Bulgaria from joining the Schengen Area. This happens to be the Dutch Government. Quite by chance, this is the same government which is working together with the party that has created this dreadful website. I can only repeat what Mr Daul has already said on the subject, because despite all our differences, Parliament must take a joint approach. This website is totally unacceptable and goes against all our European values. It must be shut down by the people responsible, who should realise that this is intolerable.
However, the most unacceptable aspect of all this is the failure of the Dutch Government and the Dutch Prime Minister to react. He recently said to me in the course of a conversation that it was not their website and it would be even better if a government were to set up a website like this. Nevertheless, this is a party which is cooperating with him. It may not be a formal alliance, perhaps it is an informal one, but in any case, they have a relationship. They are sleeping in the same bed. The government should not be doing this with a party which creates a website of this kind. Therefore, I can only say once again to Prime Minister Rutte: we are waiting. We are still waiting for you to distance yourself from this. We do not want you to call in the police to close it down if this is against the law, as Ms Reding has said. However, we are waiting for Mr Rutte to make a clear political statement indicating that he is opposed to the citizens of the European Union being treated in this way and that he also opposes racism and discrimination.
I agree with Ms Reding – even though you did not mention one of the first statements by the S&D Group, but that is not what we are discussing – that it is important for us to take a joint approach in this matter. It is important for our group and the entire House to stand up against racism and discrimination in Europe. Mr Rutte should take note of this and he should respond to this call."@en1
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