Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-11-17-Speech-1-087"

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"en.20031117.6.1-087"2
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"Mr President, there is one fundamental reason why this debate becomes heated at times. It would be very easy to draw on legal arguments. Many Members have already raised the basic question: can the European Union, with great difficulty, adopt an initiative, which does not have backing in all the Member States of the Union? That would be one of the many possible – if you will forgive the expression – hypocritical approaches to the issue. On this matter, there is a basic problem, which politics cannot resolve: politics is the art of the possible and, without a doubt, the art of compromise, but compromise on fundamental values is impossible. Therefore, on this matter, with due regard for the positions of all the Members and with due regard for the positions expressed by the Commission, all the attempts that have been made thus far seek to open the door to a new process, and that process involves tampering with the principle of life. For some, this path is completely acceptable, and for others it is a path which is not acceptable because it runs counter to certain fundamental values. That is why, as I see it, none of the attempts at compromise that have been made – although I commend the wisdom, ability and capacity of the Members – has achieved the ultimate goal. As regards the process in question, I would draw your attention not so much to the initial phase, the phase we are experiencing now, which is extremely important because the treatment of a number of degenerative diseases is at stake, but to what will happen when we have decided to meddle with life: not in the short term, that is, but in the medium and long terms, and these are all questions of eugenics. We are going the same way as we did with the atom: in exploring the possibilities of the atom we made the atom bomb, and now we need rules to take us back a step. At this juncture, therefore, on a matter such as this, which is much more complex and much more sensitive, there may well be a need for further reflection."@en1

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