Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-06-08-Speech-3-166"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20050608.16.3-166"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, as a French citizen I feel bound to begin this speech by rejecting the comments I have just heard from one of my fellow citizens. The demise of a draft Constitution is not the end of all the Treaties binding us together! Europe has done enough to earn the right to send a collective message. Laschet, my congratulations on your good report! If there is any abuse of power – that was indeed the word used – it is by taking the salary of a Member of the European Parliament and then biting the hand that feeds you, ignoring all the efforts we have been making for sixty years.
Mr President, Minister, Commissioner, I support this Laschet report. In these dark days for Europe, I am happy to see this rare moment of convergence between the Council, the Commission and our Parliament. I am pleased to commend the excellent report of a colleague who, rather more than is customary, took the views of his colleagues into account, and I am ashamed that there are only 25 of us at this sitting, a fact which hardly enhances the credibility of our debate.
Mr President, I should like to give you a message for the Presidency. We can try to reform the United Nations, but it would be better to start by reforming ourselves. I am certain that the 700 or so colleagues who are absent are not merely enjoying a siesta. They are at work in their offices. Our work is badly organised. We need one or two major debates in plenary session each month in this building and, apart from that, everything should be discussed in committees. These debates should be dignified affairs. It is impossible, with only a couple of minutes available, to make an analysis or express a line of thought.
I would therefore say, Mr President-in-Office of the Council – begging your pardon for representing a Parliament of which I am basically a little ashamed – that my main concern is that by defending this good report and all the good work we do together in Europe, you might be aiming at the wrong target. There are too many responsibilities, too may targets. It is true that Europe has its reasons for wanting a seat on the Security Council. It is true that the time is not ripe and this is virtually out of the question at present. I would advise you not to waste too much time on it and to focus on what is reasonably possible, on what would generally make a difference and on aspects where our work, and in particular the Laschet report, can be constructive. I would quote Article 2 and chapter VII on the transfer of the right to invoke the Charter to regional organisations. This is a great innovation. I would also cite the transformation of the Trusteeship Council into a Council for Failed States. Finally, I would mention the introduction, in Article 17, of a reference to global public goods. As I have overrun my allotted time, I will stop here.
This is all absurd; we are all saying more or less the same thing. Do not aim for the wrong target. Concentrate on the innovative aspects – and only on them – and we shall have done a good job."@en1
|
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples