In his programmatic speech from the floor, Hans-Gert Poettering mentioned a number of "open questions" that await the EU. He insisted on "the importance of a partnership agreement with Russia", although he demanded Putin to "deliver the murderers of the journalist Ana Politkovskaya to justice"; he addressed the "American friends", saying that "Guantanamo does not agree with our legal principles"; he spoke of the warnings that still derive today from the Holocaust; he explained that the EU believes in the "possibility of a peaceful cohabitation of Israelis and Palestinians". The German president added: "We, as the EU Parliament, are absolutely sure that death penalty does not agree" with fundamental rights and human dignity. Then, Poettering moved on to list the main fields in which Europe must "be able to take action" to deliver "factual results" for the citizens’ lives. They include: social justice, international justice (essential "to build peace"), internal security and the fight against terrorism, migration, the fight against climate change, energy and economic competitiveness. Finally, as he spoke of the fiftieth anniversary of the EEC Treaties, he expressed the wish that "a house of European history may be built so as to study and inform about the roots and unification" of the EU.
