Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-07-07-Speech-1-209"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20080707.21.1-209"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, Parliament needs to interpret Democracy in a democratic fashion. This means that the Rules of Procedure should not be taken in isolation; rather they must be interpreted in the light of the moral basis for suffrage and the principle of representation as signifying self-legislation and citizens’ autonomy. Drawing some points from this principle, I should like to say the following: from my point of view, the amendment Mr Corbett has proposed is correct in principle, but the reason why a group that falls below the minimum threshold necessary during a parliamentary term must continue to exist lies especially in the fact that voters’ democratic choices are also nearly always made taking account of the EP political group that candidates belong to.
Voters are not indifferent to whether a candidate is elected to sit on the benches of the Socialist Group in the European Parliament or of the Group of the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats. This being the case, I believe that this amendment, rather than containing a discretionary power for the President of Parliament, should contain a binding power, rather than a permission, a duty, and the period for continuation of the group can only, from a democratic point of view, be exactly the period of a parliamentary term. Otherwise we would be completely subverting the principles of freedom that make up what we are.
My second remark concerns the temptation to copy what the national parliaments do. National parliaments really do act as models for us, but in this case we need to copy them
with caution, as the proliferation of groups in European democracy can make up for the lack of representativity that hurls Europe from one crisis to another.
Proliferation here may make up for the persistent divorce between European citizens and those who represent them. Additionally, the more plurality there is, the more evident the struggle and intense politicking that normally lead to our consensuses will become, as systematic consensuses are not free from controversy here either.
Having many groups can help Parliament politicise bureaucratic Europe, because a Democracy is a Democracy and not an Order."@en1
|
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
"cum grano salis"1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples