Sanatarkat istuntoselostukset

Keskiviikko 23. marraskuuta 2022 - Strasbourg

18.3. EU:n uusi laajentumisstrategia (A9-0251/2022 - Tonino Picula)

Mündliche Stimmerklärungen

  Eugen Tomac (PPE). – Domnule președinte, cred că criza de securitate ne-a scos în față noi provocări și Uniunea Europeană întotdeauna a depășit toate obstacolele pe care le-a avut prin două decizii majore: pe de-o parte extindere, pe de altă parte, mai multă integrare.

Iată că statele afectate de agresiunea rusă au primit același răspuns, au fost invitate să adere la Uniunea Europeană. Însă, pentru a ajuta Ucraina și Republica Moldova astăzi mai avem nevoie de un pas extrem de important, și anume ca Austria și Olanda să nu se opună integrării României și Bulgariei în spațiul Schengen.

Moldova și Ucraina pot primi oricât de mulți bani putem oferi, însă nu pot supraviețui economic dacă nu vor avea lângă ei frontiera Schengen pentru a putea să se integreze rapid economic. Întârzierea extinderii spațiului Schengen agravează foarte mult și inclusiv aceste state din punct de vedere economic.

  Clare Daly (The Left). – Mr President, I abstained on this report. To the spotless minds in Europe, EU enlargement is about growing our happy family of democratic nations, prospering together in a brotherly paradise of enterprise and free trade. But the truth is, it’s a rich boys’ club, in which membership hinges upon sweeping neoliberal reforms –the last batch about boosting NATO and a pool of cheap labour for the West.

And for the last 20 years, we’ve left candidate countries in the Balkans in accession purgatory, while we’ve lorded it over them through one thing or another. And now we’re going in the opposite direction for all the wrong reasons.

The report is infected with megalomania. Enlargement is now explicitly described as part of an EU geographic strategy against Russia. Wow! What a proposition to put to the working people in our neighbourhood. We want your country as a chess piece. You, too, can be like Ukraine.

The world isn’t our chessboard and the EU shouldn’t have an enlargement strategy. We should welcome those who want to join, respect those who don’t and stop ending this meddling.

  Miriam Lexmann (PPE). – Mr President, for too long we lacked the vision and political will to utilise the transformative nature of the enlargement process. The consequences of this failure are there for us to see. Non-democratic regimes are challenging European peace and security, threatening the stability of our neighbours and using malign investments to roll back years of democratic reforms. Reclaiming this vision and will is crucial for our society.

However, we must also be creative about the integration process. We need to enhance constructive political dialogue with the candidate, potential candidate and associated countries. Include them as observers in Commission comitology proceedings, Council working groups, as well as specific meetings of the EU ministers and heads of state.

We must work together to pursue our common values and interests and address the many challenges facing us today.