Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-11-29-Speech-3-024"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20061129.9.3-024"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
".
Mr President, it is a great honour for me to extend a warm welcome to the Taoiseach here to the European Parliament today. Your visit shows your understanding of the important work of the European Parliament and the need for the European Union to find a solution to the constitutional difficulties which the Union is experiencing at present.
There are increasing difficulties within the European Union, not only on the Constitution but also, as other colleagues have mentioned, regarding globalisation, economic development and the common foreign and security policy. The Taoiseach has given us a great vision today, not just through his words but also because of the experience he brings with him. In nearly ten years in the European Council he has seen many leaders come and go, but he has also seen many of the crises that people previously thought would rent the European Union apart and found solutions for them, in particular concerning the agreement on the constitutional treaty.
There is no point going over what should or should not have been. It is now up to the Member States in their period of reflection to present ideas as regards what should be brought forward. Not just because we need a new treaty, or a new set of rules, but because we need to continue to demonstrate a vision to those countries on our borders which aspire to become part of the European Union and look to it as a model of peace, prosperity and stability. I am thinking in particular of the countries in the Balkans. We held out a candle of hope to them and, unfortunately, because we can no longer accommodate a further enlargement, that candle of hope could be extinguished, just when they are beginning to grow economically and find a new way forward in political and democratic terms.
With regard to globalisation, our main focus should be on making the European economy better able to deal with the situation in the 21st century. This requires greater investment in research and development, greater use of innovation and technology and, I must stress, greater collaboration between universities and research institutes in the European Union through the European institute of technology.
Finally, I should like to tell the Taoiseach that it rests on him as the leader of one country to present that vision. He spoke about the peace process in Northern Ireland and the importance of the European Union’s role in that regard, not only in economic and financial terms but also in the model and vision it provided.
We must find a new Europe for the 21st century, where everybody can belong to that commonality. But all groups must be sure that the diversity within the European Union today, and beyond it on the European continent, is respected in a process for collaboration and collective agreement rather than for domination."@en1
|
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples