OPENING SPEECH BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY AT THE 3RD PART OF THE 2005 ASSEMBLY’S SESSION(Strasbourg, 20 June 2005)
Ladies and Gentlemen,
1. Third Summit
The Third Summit of the Council of Europe took place in Warsaw on 16-17 May 2005 and it was a success.
I should like to congratulate the Polish government for the successful holding of this event and thank all those who contributed to it.
The Summit was an event of the greatest importance for the future of the Council of Europe.
It confirmed that the Council of Europe has a crucial role to play in the Europe of tomorrow and the documents adopted by the Heads of State and Government provide our Organisation with clear indications of how to fulfil this role.
And as so many Heads of States and Governments said at the Summit - it is doing an excellent job.
The Assembly contributed substantially to the Summit. Many participants explicitly paid tribute to the Assembly’s work in their statements.
I was also very pleased that the Summit was a further step towards strengthening the co-operation between the Assembly and the Committee of Ministers, which I consider crucial for our Organisation.
The Bureau of the Committee of Ministers and the Assembly’s Presidential Committee held a very successful joint meeting in Warsaw.
As a result of this meeting, following a proposal made by the Assembly, Mr Jean-Claude Juncker, Prime Minister of Luxembourg, was asked to draw up a political report on the relationship between the European Union and the Council of Europe.
Mr Juncker accepted this task and I am very confident that his report will provide us with the right answers.
Last but not least, the Summit provided an excellent opportunity to hold many very fruitful bilateral meetings.
We should now ensure that the Parliamentary Assembly plays an active part in the follow-up to the Summit.
The Bureau has recommended that the Assembly hold an urgent debate during this part-session on the follow-up to the Summit.
I am confident this debate will lead to concrete proposals concerning the Assembly’s contribution.
I very much count on the Committee of Ministers to make full use of our proposals.
It is crucial that we mobilise our member states to the need for the necessary follow-up to the Summit.
To this purpose, I addressed a letter to all Presidents of Parliament of the Council of Europe member states asking them to support the decisions adopted at the Summit and to ratify the three very important conventions opened for signature in Warsaw.
2. Bringing Europe closer to its citizens
In Warsaw, I presented six main challenges that lie ahead for the Council of Europe in the coming years.
For me, however, the biggest challenge is to bring Europe to the people.
After the referenda which took place in France and the Netherlands on the European Constitutional Treaty, Europe finds itself in an extremely difficult situation.
This Treaty aims to make Europe more democratic, to improve the decision-making process, to pave the way to a Europe speaking with one voice and to ensure respect of common values, also through the accession of the European Union to the European Convention on Human Rights.
The outcome of the referenda and the failure of the Brussels Summit cause a standstill instead of progress and optimism.
It has a negative impact on the necessary and justified solidarity with central and eastern European countries.
In this connection I want to pay tribute to the behaviour of those countries at the European Summit last week.
I share Mr Juncker’s deep disappointment with regard to the position taken by some other governments, which has plunged the European Union into one of the deepest crisis of its history.
All this, despite the great statesmanship shown by the President of the Council, Mr Juncker.
It would be wrong to think that these developments do not concern the Council of Europe.
Their outcome touches the whole of Europe.
If we do not learn from these votes and do not react accordingly, we could be soon on a slippery road back to egocentric nationalism and its dangers.
Prosperity and security of Europe and its citizens are inextricably linked to the further development of European cooperation.
A strong Europe is necessary to avoid new divisions and to strengthen economic growth.
At the same time, it would be a historical mistake to think that Europe is just about economy and trade.
It is also about common values – democracy, human rights and the rule of law.
I would appeal here to the European Union, during the reflection period, to proceed with the accession of the European Union, or at least the European Community, to the European Convention on Human Rights. This would strongly contribute to a common European legal area – for the benefit of all our citizens.
Dear colleagues,
I appeal to you, and through you to all Europeans, to keep their faith in the European values and European unity and to actively participate in the European debate in your national parliaments and in your society.
3. Avoid duplication and waste of money
I have devoted a lot of efforts to raising awareness of the European Union and its member states of the need to avoid duplication and waste of money in the work of the Council of Europe and the European Union.
This applies, in particular, to the European Union neighbourhood policy and the competences of the new EU Fundamental Rights Agency.
During my official visits, my bilateral meetings at the Warsaw Summit and meetings with members of the European Commission, I kept repeating the following message – why duplicate the activities which the Council of Europe has been doing for years and doing them well?
4. Srebrenica
Finally, I have to share with you my emotions after watching a video tape on the massacre in Srebrenica. Moments of the deepest infamy for Europe and, you will understand, for my country, the Netherlands, whose soldiers could not stop this tragedy.
8 000 boys and men were assassinated in a couple of hours.
Looking at the faces of those who were going to die was terrible. Just imagine it were your son or husband.
Looking at their assassins, acting as if they were about to do some casual business, was even worse.
Looking at a priest blessing the assassins, was just unbearable.
Showing these pictures, the media were not looking for sensation.
They did their job and presented an irrefutable evidence to all those who could not believe, or did not want to believe, that this tragedy took place.
It is high time that the master-minders of this massacre, Mr Karadjic and Mr Mladic, and their collaborators be brought to justice now before the Hague Tribunal.
Justice is necessary to help, if at all possible, heel the pain of the people.
It is our common responsibility to ensure this justice and I urge, in particular, the countries directly concerned to do their utmost in this respect.
In this connection, I very much regret the decision of the Parliament of Serbia to reject the draft resolution to condemn war crimes in Srebrenica and in all former Yugoslavia.
May these events remind us why the Council of Europe’s mission is so essential and urge us to do better in future.
Thank you very much.