Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-01-14-Speech-3-013"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20090114.3.3-013"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
".
Mr President. Prime Minister Topolánek, you are heading the last Council Presidency of the current term of the European Parliament. This parliamentary term started with the Dutch Presidency, headed by Mr Balkenende, and no one remembers what he said here and what we replied. Therefore, what we discuss and achieve together now, in the next five or six months, will be the fundamental precondition for a high turnout in the European elections. If people see that we – the Presidency, Parliament and the Commission – have come together and successfully met the challenges facing us in a crisis situation, I am sure that this will create a fundamentally positive and constructive mood in the run-up to the European elections.
That is why we, the Socialist Group in the European Parliament, have an interest in the success of your Presidency. I had some doubts in the first few days of the Presidency, when Mr Schwarzenberg said that Israel was exercising its right of self-defence and aligned himself with one party in a period when the European Union was needed as a mediator. He put that right, which is a good thing. Mr Topolánek, you yourself said, ‘we shall not mediate in the gas conflict’. You have now put that right.
There were some initial problems, but they have now been overcome, which is a good thing. If the initial uncertainties – and I should like to emphasise that Mr Barroso was right about this – now in fact lead to your activities producing positive results, you will have the full support of our group. That also goes for the speech you held here this morning, which we all listened to and noted with great goodwill and also with a feeling of confidence for the next few months.
I should like to take up one of the points you raised. You quoted my friend Mr Daul – a clever man, but in this case he was wrong – who said here that the financial crisis did not represent the defeat of capitalism. It is true that it has not defeated capitalism – unfortunately that still exists – but it has defeated the capitalists who told us for years that we had no need of rules, as the market would regulate itself, would regulate things itself. These capitalists have suffered a defeat, and when you – having up to now indulged in policies similar to those of the people who said we had no need of rules – tell the House this morning that we need a Europe of rules, I can only agree: we do indeed need more rules to manage, to overcome the financial crisis. Mr Topolánek, I should like to wish you a warm welcome to the club of regulators in Europe – it seems that you, too, have learned your lesson.
Prime Minister, this is a decisive period in international politics. If the European Union wishes to assume the global role described by the Commission President, among others, in the matters of energy security or the Gaza conflict, it cannot allow itself to disintegrate; we need the Union of 27 as a strong economic and political bloc. Only if we do not allow ourselves to be divided will we be strong. After all, the strength of others is that they can always hope for Europeans to speak with different voices. Karel Schwarzenberg says Israel is acting in self-defence, whilst Louis Michel says the country is violating international law. If that is what the European Union is like, there is no need to negotiate with it.
If Russia or Ukraine believes that one half of Europe is on their side and the other half on the other, we are not strong. Yet we are strong if we have a strong treaty basis; which is provided by the Treaty of Lisbon. If this Treaty is ratified under your Presidency by your government – which, of course, has been punished enough given your country’s president – that would send out a strong signal that Europe is strong.
Prague Castle is the seat of Václav Klaus, who will be speaking to us in February, when he comes to Brussels. Prague Castle was also the seat of Charles IV, as the Prime Minister mentioned. Charles IV built the Golden Road from Prague to Nuremberg, which, in his day, was a tremendous feat, and was intended to connect peoples and nations. Before he became German emperor, with his seat in Prague, Charles IV was Duke of Luxembourg. Therefore, this period in Prague Castle was truly European. Let us hope that Prague Castle is soon occupied once more by someone as European as this."@en1
|
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata | |
| lpv:videoURI |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples