Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-04-21-Speech-3-178"
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"en.20040421.8.3-178"2
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"Mr President, as an MEP for Sicily, I would like to express my satisfaction and appreciation, and thank my fellow Members who, like me, voted for the amendment this morning, which has shown how, in the end, common sense prevailed when faced with the willingness shown by the European Council.
There is no doubt that the overwhelming majority of Parliament has today concluded the procedure at second reading by accepting the common position. Of course, we were once again saddened at the attempt by the Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance, accompanied in this action by the Confederal Group of the European United Left/Nordic Green Left and by some Italian left-wing democrats – with an amendment which, fortunately, only received about 50 votes – to abort the continuation of the plan for the Messina bridge on the trans-European route from Berlin to Palermo.
If the amendment had been passed, over and above the very serious detrimental effect, which was mentioned at the end of the procedure, the Italian Government – which has already launched the process to begin construction of the bridge – would not have received the 10% contribution from the Union’s funds, as provided for in the Treaty. Even more than the sum involved, there is obviously the political significance that such a vote would have had.
The opposing view, taken by those against the bridge over the Straits, did however – if I may say so – seem to be misleading right from the start and counter, in particular, to the legitimate interests of Sicily and Southern Italy. We cannot hope for the development of these regions of Southern Europe and then deny them the right to have essential infrastructure.
Building the bridge will of course not resolve all of the problems associated with the socio-economic deterioration of Sicily, but it will finally allow the trans-European road and rail networks to be completed and it will enable the island to play a more competitive role in the area of free trade planned for 2010."@en1
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