Go back to the Europarl portal

Choisissez la langue de votre document :

 Index 
 Full text 
Verbatim report of proceedings
Wednesday, 18 June 2003 - Brussels OJ edition

Statute and financing of European political parties
MPphoto
 
 

  Gorostiaga Atxalandabaso (NI). – Mr President, I should like to thank Mr Leinen for his efforts. Even though I would endorse the report in the light of the undeniable need for the European dimension of political parties at the very moment the Convention is launching the Constitutional draft for the European Union, the system actually proposed can hardly hide the inner tendency to transfer the American way of doing politics to the European landscape. It is more than evident that even the most acute analysts cannot distinguish the main differences between Democrats and Republicans, as is highlighted by issues such as the recent occupation of Iraq.

The proposal we are dealing with shows a clear will on the part of the European Union's lobbies to abandon the historical European arena and to embrace political confrontation in its stead, following the American model. The financing scheme leaves no doubt about it.

Furthermore, we should not ignore the fact that the proposed rules discriminate against political parties of its stateless nations, such as the Basque Country, as Mr MacCormick mentioned just a few minutes ago. Moreover, if amendments such as that proposed by Mr Gil-Robles go through, the question remains: has he asked for respect for the laws of the Member State in which those parties operate?

Certainly, Spanish nationalists have no limits.

 
Legal notice - Privacy policy