Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-07-22-Speech-4-011"
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"en.20040722.1.4-011"2
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"Ladies and gentlemen, no change can ever be brought about without constant and open consultation with the people affected by that change. Our absurd experiences in Central Europe of the exercise of power have been described both in Hašek’s novel ‘The Good Soldier Švejk’ and in Robert Musil’s ‘The Man Without Qualities’. It all began with the Habsburg monarchy, which was in some respects similar to the present-day European Union. During the peaceful seventy-year reign of Emperor Franz Joseph I, a committee was set up to search for a big idea for the monarchy. War broke out, the Emperor died, but the committee continued its work. It continued to search for a big idea whilst ignoring the views of entire nations. The situation has also changed for us. The old European Union has ceased to exist; the new European Union must be far more flexible, more cost-effective and more transparent to its citizens. I fear, however, that the Commission has up to now behaved and continues to behave exactly like the committee set up to glorify Emperor Franz Joseph I’s seventy-year reign of peace.
Karel Čapek said of the modern era that the end has been replaced by the means. We are preoccupied by procedures and become involved in trifling matters, but the end goal escapes us. I should like to ask our President-designate a question. How will the new European Union differ from the old European Union? What new forms of consultation with the public does the Commission intend to offer and, finally, Mr Barroso, what is your big idea for the new Europe?"@en1
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