Speech by José María GIL-ROBLES,
President of the European Parliament

providing an assessment of his term of office

STRASBOURG, 5 May 1999


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Mr President of the Council,
Mr President of the Commission,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

This week's part-session is the last of the current parliamentary term and the last of my term of office as President of this Parliament. It is therefore time for me to answer to you, my esteemed colleagues, and through you to the people of Europe, whom I have striven to serve during the past two and a half years.

In the letter I sent to you in December 1996 asking you to vote for me, I spoke of the five challenges facing the European Union and its Parliament. Five formidable challenges for a two and a half year term:

• first, the conclusion of the Intergovernmental Conference then in progress, from which Parliament emerged a winner, as a stronger, more powerful institution better able to serve the people of Europe;
  
  
• second, the beginning of the negotiations on enlargement, which this Parliament has vigorously promoted and is monitoring closely, with the aim of ensuring that enlargement extends to all applicant countries, with the only difference between them being the pace at which they are able to adjust;
  
  
• third, the launch of the euro, in which we played an active and constructive role, taking care that the changeover to the new currency should not work to the detriment of consumers, ensuring that the new management of the European Central Bank have the preparation and independence they need, and making sure that adequate information on monetary policy is provided to the Parliament representing all the people of Europe;
  
  
• fourth, the revision of the financial perspective and Agenda 2000, to which we made a decisive contribution through proposals and amendments designed to maintain and strengthen the acquit. I believe that the coordination of the work of the many committees responsible and the collaboration with the Council and the Commission have been exemplary;
  
  
• and, fifth, the preparations by our own institution for the forthcoming European elections, elections not to the poor relation of the European institutions but to a Parliament which people will see for the first time as vested with great powers and the capacity to use them.
  

The balance between the institutions has changed in line with what the Treaties of Maastricht and Amsterdam sought to bring about: that is to say we now have a Commission whose appointment and political action will no longer in future depend solely on the confidence placed in it by the Council, but well and truly on the confidence placed in it by Parliament. And this expression of confidence will not be given once and for all, but must be maintained throughout the Commission's term of office, with the latter being accountable to Parliament at all times and providing it fully and freely with all the information it needs to perform its supervisory tasks.

For many years we have heard calls for the European institutions to be made more democratic. Let us not take fright now and hanker after the former institutional balance. There is no point in that. Democracy requires us to give effect to the growing demand by the people of Europe to know what is going on via their representatives and to approve or criticize as they see fit.

I also spoke in my letter of internal reforms and of the single statute for Members. Countless changes in the functioning of Parliament have been adopted in recent years, including improvements to financial rules and organization, overhauling of the senior levels of Parliament's administration and the introduction of new systems for promotion and mobility, increases in the number of women in managerial posts, though still not as many as we would like, rules on transparency in administrative decisions and the consolidation and clarification of existing rules so that in future Members and officials know their rights and duties on the basis of clear rules without arbitrary decisions or favouritism.

Also the administrative and financial problems relating to our building in Brussels have been satisfactorily resolved, bringing to fruition the undertaking by my predecessors to provide Members with better and more centralised facilities. I am sure that the pattern will be repeated for the building in Strasbourg so that it can house the opening of the next parliamentary term. The consistent buildings policy followed in recent times has made it possible to provide Members with the new computer equipment needed to bring them into much more direct contact with the people.

With regard to the Members' statute, I should like to make it quite clear that this is an aspiration of Parliament and not - as some have claimed - a dictate of the Council, and that is why I reminded you that this matter was included in my letter. It was Parliament which requested and secured the inclusion in the Treaty of Amsterdam of the legal basis for the statute. It is Parliament which, even before the Treaty comes into force, has put before the Council a comprehensive text dealing with all aspects of our situation with the utmost transparency, including those areas where the power of decision has always been our own.

It is to be welcomed that the Council has chosen to become part of this unstoppable process and has made great efforts to secure a consensus among its members. However, some aspects of the text before us need to be rectified in terms of both form and content so as to avoid violating basic principles. I am thinking of the principle of tax equality for all Members, to which there can be temporary, but not permanent, exceptions, the need to respect the pension rights built up by Members over years of work in Parliament and outside, and other minor matters which I will not go into here.

In any case, let it be clear that we have not awaited the introduction of the statute in order to adopt measures to bring under control allowances and travel expenses, which have been appreciably reduced. Few institutions or bodies are capable of taking such decisions off their own bat as we have done.

The basic idea behind all these reforms was and remains to increase the efficiency and openness of Parliament, so that we can bequeath to our successors a Parliament ready to take on its institutional role successfully and meet the challenge posed by the increased scrutiny of our fellow citizens.

The last two years have therefore been positive overall, but there was shade as well as light. It would be unacceptable to ignore our most distressing failure - the fact that we did not manage to make our repeated warnings about the impending tragedy in Kosovo heard. Now we have to watch in horror how the black clouds of hatred have ultimately fulfilled all their tragic potential for persecution, bloodshed and violence and how the lack of appropriate ways of bringing peace to the region has stopped us from preventing genocide.

We can do our utmost to help the victims - we are already doing so and will have to continue the humanitarian work for a long time. But this is not enough - we must begin to make preparations for peace and work together with the countries in the region to set up a stable system of cooperation between them and promote a form of development which will enable them as soon as possible to become members of a Union based on respect for those who are different and on the integration of their rich cultural and human resources.

It must be a Union in which there is no room for ostracism, racism or xenophobia, evils which are always ready to rear their ugly heads and which must be given no quarter, since given the slightest opportunity they lead to violence, suffering and death. The European Parliament has always been and will continue to be among the most active in this fight.


Ladies and gentlemen,

I started with a personal assessment and it has turned into a collective one - the summary of a number of achievements which are the outcome of the work, commitment and skill of all of you, together with the active and loyal cooperation of all the officials in the Secretariat who serve Parliament and of the Members' assistants. I would ask you to show your recognition and gratitude by a round of applause.

Particular recognition is due to those colleagues who are taking a new direction in their political or private lives. This Chamber owes a great deal to their dedication and intelligence. They have been leading players in building a more democratic Europe closer to the people. It is only right that we should thank them.


Ladies and gentlemen,

I have had the privilege of presiding over this chamber in the firm conviction that to strengthen it and involve it more closely in the lives of European citizens is the best way of reducing the Union's democratic deficit. There is no active democracy where there is no active Parliament and there is no active Parliament which does not arouse the distrust and annoyance of the current executive.

There have thus been moments of tension and difficult negotiations over the last two and a half years. I have tried to tackle them with determination, without sparing dedication or effort, without looking the other way when I had to defend Parliament's decisions and actions.

At no time did I wonder whether this attitude would please other institutions, I thought only of my duty. Since childhood I was taught that this is the only decent approach to being a politician, and I have tried not to forget it.

In conclusion, ladies and gentlemen, I shall finish as I began, a little over two years ago - thanking you for your support and also for your criticism. I consider myself a democrat and hence I see criticism as helpful rather than insulting. To listen to criticism and ignore flattery is a sound rule.

I feel passionately about Europe. This passion has turned the Utopia of 50 years ago to a large extent into reality.
A Europe which we must make increasingly united, prosperous, free and supportive.

Thank you all very much.


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