The “miracle” of the 27

“The enlargement of the European Union” to 27 States, “together with the reunification of Germany, remain for me the miracle of this generation”, declared HANS -GERT POETTERING , who in January was elected President of the European Parliament until 2009. He addressed his programmatic speech to the deputies during the plenary session held in Strasbourg from 12 to 15 February. It was an intensive week in which the Ep debated (among other things) the alleged secret activities of the Cia in Europe, the next Eu summit in March on economic and social issues, the management of radio and television frequencies, and problems linked to the wine-producing and fishing sectors. REDISCOVERING THE ROOTS OF EUROPE. In his speech before the EP, Poettering referred to the fifty years of European integration and re-launched the Constitution as the “necessary means to overcome the current failings of the Union”. He then re-affirmed the centrality of the Parliament in the institutional architecture of the EU, and announced a reform of its internal organization. But the President also dwelt at some length on the “need to respond together to the challenges of globalization”, and to “rediscover the roots of Europe and its values”, to be able to testify to them and share them with the rest of the world. “Our roots – he said – consist in Greek philosophy, Roman law and the Jewish and Christian tradition”; they have shaped the “freedom, law and democracy” that distinguish Europe today. Europe “is a multicultural and multireligious continent” where it is possible to live together in a climate of “tolerance and mutual understanding”. “CREATING A HOME OF EUROPEAN HISTORY”. Poettering recalled some of the many “open questions” on the table of the EU: he underlined “the importance of a partnership agreement with Russia”, though warning Putin of the need to “bring to justice the assassins of the journalist Anna Politkovskaya”. He also alluded to the warnings deriving from the Holocaust that still remain actual today; he explained that the EU believes in the “possible peaceful co-existence of Israelis and Palestinians”, two peoples that need to be assured of a land in which to live. The German politician listed various questions in which Europe must “be able to act” if it is to bring “concrete results” to the life of citizens. They include: internal security and the fight against terrorism, immigration, efforts to tackle climate change, energy and economic competitiveness. Lastly, speaking of the 50th anniversary of the founding Treaties of the EEC, he hoped for the creation of “a home for European history, which would dedicate itself to studying and disseminating the origins and achievements of the unification of Europe”. CIA FLIGHTS AND RENDITIONS IN THE EU. During the plenary, the EP approved the final report of the committee that has investigated secret CIA flights and the illegal transfers (or renditions) of detainees, suspected of being agents or affiliates of international terrorism, from the USA to third countries, with stopovers in Europe. The report contains a fundamental statement of principle: “Terrorism must be combated in respect for human rights and fundamental liberties”. With the adoption of this report (382 votes in favour, 256 against, 74 abstentions), the Parliament condemns “the fact that European countries have renounced control over their own air space and their own airports, closing their eyes to the CIA flights” used “for the illegal transport of detainees”. The committee reported the carrying out, from 2001 (after the terror attacks of 11 September) to 2005 (date of the setting up of the committee), of at least 1,245 flights with refuelling stops in European airports or with flights over EU air space. The European Parliament now expects “the Council to exert pressure on all the governments concerned to provide full and accurate information” to the Community institutions and, “where necessary, to launch an independent investigation”. A “ROAD MAP” FOR THE CONSTITUTION. The EP also heard an address by the President of the Italian Republic, GIORGIO NAPOLITANO , who urged the revival of the process of European integration. “What unites us all – he explained – is the sense of belonging to Europe as a common patrimony of values and ideas, traditions and hopes, and as a project for the construction of a new political and institutional subject that may respond to the challenges of the age in which we live”. Commenting on the current impasse of the EU, Napolitano declared that “Europe is paying the consequences of a lack of effort to involve citizens in the major decisions” of unification. The Italian head of state declared he was contrary to “touching up” the text of the Constitutional Treaty”, but did express “full confidence” in the German Presidency’s plan to define a “road map” that would permit the Constitutional Treaty to be presented before the European elections in 2009.