President. – Ladies and gentlemen, we have a lot of votes to take, so can I please ask for a little discipline and cooperation? Before we proceed to the vote, I wish to inform you that Mr Claudio Martelli of the Technical Group of Independent Members has now joined the Mixed Group, that is he has switched from the Technical Group to the Mixed Group.

Mr Martelli, normally you can only speak at the end of voting time, but I shall, exceptionally, give you the floor for a few moments. There will not, however, be any discussion of this, but you can make a short personal statement.

  Martelli (NI). – (IT) Mr President, I have been a socialist in Italy and in international organisations for 30 years. When I was re-elected to this Parliament in June 1999, I naturally joined the Group of the Party of European Socialists. On 30 June 2000, at the end of a meeting of the Bureau, of which I was a member but where a few close colleagues discussed my case, in my absence and without my knowledge, Mr Barón Crespo informed me that I had excluded myself from his group. I did not even receive a courtesy reply to my protest. Clearly, Mr Barón Crespo feels that Italian Socialists may not be part of the Group of the Party of European Socialists. One must either be a former Communist, such as Veltroni, or the satellite of a former Communist, such as Boselli. This is the story of the Italian left, the story of the cuckoo: the ex-Communist cuckoo which, when its world crumbles, lays its eggs in the nests of other birds and, thanks to the mother's failure to care for her eggs, is able to eat the eggs which were originally in the nest.

  President. – Mr Martelli, you have had your minute. Only one minute is allowed for a personal statement. You can submit the rest in writing, to Mr Barón Crespo as well.

  Hänsch (PSE) . – (DE) Mr President, I wish to categorically reject Mr Martelli's remarks. Mr Barón Crespo spoke on behalf of the Group of the Party of European Socialists in accordance with our statutes, and it is a matter for regret that Mr Martelli has now joined the European Right.

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