Verbatim report of proceedings

Wednesday, 22 March 2006 - Brussels

7. Announcement by the President

  President. Before we look at the agenda, I must tell you of some news which is positive for once: a positive piece of news relating to a situation in Spain, but one which I believe is good for the whole of Europe.

I am referring to the communiqué issued today by ETA, announcing a permanent ceasefire.

(Applause)

We are being offered a glimpse of a future without terrorism. This is a time to act calmly and prudently. It is also a time to remember the victims of terrorism, and there have been many. It is a time for hope, for the uniting of all democratic political forces. I would say again that this is good news not just for Spanish society, but for the whole of Europe, because it shows that terrorism can be fought through the power of democracy.

Thank you for your applause, ladies and gentlemen.

(Applause)

Would the political groups like to speak following this communication from the Presidency?

  Martin Schulz, on behalf of the PSE Group. – (DE) Mr President, as you can imagine, the information you have given this House has provoked a lively response within our Group today. One of the 200 members of the Socialist Group in the European Parliament is herself a victim of ETA terrorism, since her husband was murdered by ETA. I hope you will agree to my asking my colleague Mrs Dührkop Dührkop to say a few words on behalf of our Group.

(Applause)

  Bárbara Dührkop Dührkop, on behalf of the PSE Group. – (ES) Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, ETA’s announcement of a permanent ceasefire, which has been confirmed, is extremely hopeful news for all of the citizens of Spain and hence for all of the citizens of Europe.

We would call for unity amongst all European democrats now and in the future, in order to achieve a definitive peace.

As you have said, Mr President — and I say this with profound emotion — this is a time to remember the victims.

(Sustained applause)

  Hans-Gert Poettering, on behalf of the PPE-DE Group. – (DE) Mr President, our highly respected fellow Member Mrs Dührkop’s concluding remarks would also have been my first, namely that our thoughts today are with the men and women murdered by ETA and with their families.

Pleased as we of course are at this announcement, we are equally firm in saying there must be no political reward for such an announcement by ETA. At a time such as this, when we hope for a peaceful future for the whole Basque country and the whole Spanish nation, our thoughts go out to people all over the world who are dying because of terrorism or who are being deprived of their individual liberties, as at present in Belarus, where some of the opposition is being imprisoned.

As freely elected Members of the European Parliament, it is our moral duty to speak out whenever the protection and dignity of human life are at stake. Because the dignity and the protection of human life is the supreme value in Europe and in the world.

(Applause)

  Graham Watson, on behalf of the ALDE Group. – Mr President, normally if you invite the political group leaders to take the floor it is because of some tragedy which has afflicted our world. It is a pleasure today to be invited to celebrate something which can only be regarded as a victory.

In western Europe, thanks to the political leaders of the post-war generation, we enjoy democracy. In a democracy, a change comes through the ballot, not through the bullet. The actions of ETA, the IRA, the Red Brigades and the other terrorist groups we have known in the past have been unjustifiable terrorist actions. On behalf of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, I welcome the process through which ETA has announced this ceasefire. I look forward to seeing dialogue and democracy as the basis for change in Spain and across our continent.

(Applause)

  Daniel Marc Cohn-Bendit, on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – (FR) Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, our group heard the news about ETA’s communiqué around two hours ago, and we would like to make the following statement. This statement from ETA demonstrates two things.

Firstly, that democracies are right to oppose terrorism.

(Applause)

Secondly, the statement shows that, although democracies are right to oppose terrorism, they must also be able to negotiate and talk things through. That was what happened in Northern Ireland and that is what is happening in Spain, too. I congratulate all the political forces in Spain, which have been able to take a stand and negotiate since, in order to prevent a massacre from taking place, the different sides must be able to talk to each another. I therefore congratulate the Spanish Government and I congratulate all those who have had the strength to show that they are taking a stand and that they are not giving way but, rather, that they want to have done with terrorism, and the end of terrorism always hinges on negotiations.

Moreover, we have requested that ETA send its ceasefire letter to Hamas so that Hamas might take inspiration from it.

(Applause)

  Brian Crowley, on behalf of the UEN Group. – Mr President, I should like to join my colleagues in welcoming this decision by ETA. Unfortunately, it is too late for many of the victims, but just think of the future victims whose lives have been saved because of the decision taken today.

As we look to the future of peace and negotiation that will take place in Spain as a result of this decision, I want to put into people’s minds the idea that ceasefires and negotiations do not mean subjugation. There must be a parity of esteem between the different sides of the argument; there must be respect for the divergence of opinion; but, most importantly of all, we must never forget that lives have been sacrificed needlessly because people refused to talk to each other on an equal basis and on an equal footing. If anything, the European Union has proven, over its 50 years of existence, that it is the best possible peace process that can be seen, because it is based on dialogue, mutual respect, understanding, tolerance – not acceptance – of all different ideas. It is based on respect for people with different ideas and focuses on ways to work together.

Finally, the opportunity that is now presented by this decision from ETA is a groundbreaking one, but do not forget that opportunity comes to pass, not to pause: we must grasp it now and work to fulfil the ideas within it.

(Applause)

  Sylvia-Yvonne Kaufmann, on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group. – (DE) Mr President, I would like to endorse everything the previous speakers have said and to thank Mrs Dührkop Dührkop in particular.

I want to make one thing perfectly clear: nothing can justify terrorism. It is important that all democratic parties, all citizens who live in democracy and peace, clearly say: there is no way we will accept terrorism, that is not what we want, we want to live in peace and friendship with one another. Every victim of terrorism is one victim too many.

Democracy and human rights: these are the values for which we all stand. I hope that this day with the ETA announcement really will result in a political and peaceful solution to problems in Spain.

(Applause)

  James Hugh Allister (NI). – Mr President, I certainly join in welcoming this announcement. I also join in the expressions of regret and sympathy in respect of ETA’s very many unnecessary victims. I do that somewhat from a personal perspective in that we, in Northern Ireland, likewise suffered unnecessary decades of terrorism.

I would join in your words of caution from the experience in Northern Ireland. Certainly it is good to see this ceasefire. We hope it is permanent, but Mr Poettering is absolutely right: there can be and should be no reward for doing what is right. The mistake that was made in my country, when the associate organisation of ETA declared its ceasefire back in 1994, was that everyone rushed forward with political rewards for that which had been done. That proved to be disastrous, because it encouraged a belief that you could keep a foot in both camps. You cannot be a terrorist by night and a politician by day. There must be a total transition to exclusively peaceful means.

The Spanish authorities should therefore learn from the experience in Northern Ireland. They should test ETA’s commitment and bona fides and realise that you should not and cannot give rewards for doing that which was necessary and right.

In welcoming the ceasefire, I offer that advice and that caution from the experience in my country.

(Applause)

  Jens Peter Bonde, on behalf of the IND/DEM Group. – (DA) Mr President, I too wish to welcome the ceasefire and the fact that weapons are being laid down and replaced with voting papers. I come from an area between Denmark and Germany where there have been war and conflict for donkey’s years and where, by granting reciprocal rights, respecting national minorities and having the border determined by referenda, a situation was achieved in which old enemies became friends. I have experienced this process in Northern Ireland. When we visited the province for the first time as Members of the European Parliament, we were thoroughly checked for weapons before we went into our hotel. On subsequent occasions, it was a peaceful Northern Ireland that we visited. The process is possible. I hope that peace will also finally be established in Spain and the Basque country.

  Alejo Vidal-Quadras Roca (PPE-DE). – (ES) Mr President, the communiqué from the terrorist group ETA does not alter the situation in Spain in any way. The communiqué tells us that ETA is going to stop killing for as long as it sees fit and that it is doing so in order to achieve its supposedly political objectives.

The communiqué, which does not contain a single word of remorse, which does not contain any request for forgiveness, which does not contain the least demonstration of submission to the rule of law, does nothing more than demonstrate the cynicism and moral meanness of this criminal group once again.

I hope that the Spanish Government will only accept one kind of communiqué from ETA: one which announces that it is disbanding and handing over its weapons and one which asks for the forgiveness of so many people who have undergone such suffering and such unjust pain at its hands.

(Applause from the centre and the right)

  President. Thank you to everybody for your reactions to ETA’s communiqué.

  James Nicholson (PPE-DE). – Mr President, I would like to join with you and the people of Spain in welcoming the good news you have received. I think it is very good for your region.

As someone who also comes from Northern Ireland, during the earlier part of my 16 years in this House, I had to rise nearly every month to express condolences to the people of my area. It is the one thing I do not miss having to do in this House now that we have some degree of normality in Northern Ireland. I hope that goes for the people of Spain as well.

I would echo the words of Mr Poettering – and indeed I have learned from my own experience – that it is much easier to make war than it is to make peace. I agree with Mr Poettering when he said that those who have been waging that war and taking those lives should not be rewarded for bringing an end to that now.

(Applause)

  Willy Meyer Pleite (GUE/NGL). – (ES) Mr President, I believe that we are dealing with a very important piece of news, not just for Spain, but also for the European Union, because ETA's announcement is a fact. A new prospect is opening up for exploring a process of negotiation which could lead to a definitive peace in the Basque Country and hence in a part of the European Union.

We are entering a complicated and difficult stage and I hope that this European Parliament will, in second place – because Spain is in first place; it falls to the Spanish Government ― help to overcome all of the obstacles which I am sure will arise during the process of negotiation.

I therefore believe that we are unquestionably facing a new situation which deserves the attention and support of all of us in seeking a definitive solution to this problem.

  Proinsias De Rossa (PSE). – Mr President, I also come from an island which had suffered almost 30 years of terrorism. We have had a peace process in place for ten years or more. I very much welcome the announcement today by the ETA organisation. My criticism of it would be same criticism I have applied to the IRA in Ireland for very many years: that it was engaged in a useless, pointless, undemocratic way of seeking to pursue its objectives.

However, at the end of the day, as politicians, we have to find a way of achieving a democratic political solution to the problem. It seems to me that the Spanish Government is to be congratulated in bringing about a situation in which a ceasefire has been announced. It is a matter for all democrats – both in Spain and in Europe – to back the Spanish Government in taking the process forward, because if we allow organisations like ETA or the IRA to see a gap between democrats as to how peace can be built, then we will fail and they will win.

  Enrique Barón Crespo (PSE). – (ES) Mr President, I had no intention of speaking following the heartfelt speech of my colleague, Mrs Dührkop, but following the speech by the Vice-President, Mr Vidal-Quadras, I just wished to say one thing, because I believe that all of us here are united in calling for European democrats to come together in order to support this process.

I just wish to say to Mr Vidal-Quadras Roca that I hope that his political party and his group will behave in the way that the Socialist Group in the European Parliament did when the People’s Party and the People's Party government were responsible for starting a negotiation process following a ceasefire that was similar to this one but which did not have the same content.

(Applause)

  President. That concludes the speeches on this subject.