Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-05-15-Speech-3-036"
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"en.20020515.2.3-036"2
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"The rapporteur is right to note that the transatlantic relationship was, in fact, the keystone of our security as long as it was under threat from the East-West divide. Given the fact that our relationship with the Russian Federation has undergone so much change, there is a need to review our relationship with the US. For a very long time, there has been talk of the European pillar alongside the American one. Unfortunately, the European pillar is not much of a pillar. In some respects, it is more like a pile of loose bricks. As the meaning of national sovereignties is overrated and this concept is used incorrectly, the Member States are bound to remain satellites of some kind. Despite this, our ambitions go further than this. The report deplores American unilateralism. However, there is hardly any way in which this can be broken, other than by reinforcing the other arm of NATO and of European-Atlantic relations, namely the EU structures. If we do not strengthen these, we will remain a disconnected bunch. We will never be able to take a stand; we will simply remain divided.
The lack of a Community approach affects many areas. Where this Community approach is in place, for example from an economic point of view, as the President-in-Office of the Council illustrated with examples a moment ago, the European Union can most definitely be a strong partner that also prescribes requirements and takes initiatives itself. This is thanks to the power of the Community approach. In the case of European security and defence policy, this is still very much lacking. That is why the report calls for bold steps towards integration. In my opinion, this is an important position in the report. As has been stated before, these steps are far more important than the increase in the Member States' defence budget. After all, as long as the return on our defence expenditure is only 15% of that of the Americans, far more progress can be made by a full-on Community policy. In addition, I should like to congratulate Mr Patten for his counter-attack."@en1
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