Home Alfred SANT

I have voted in favour of the report because I agree with the main message behind the text that the EU is justified in seeking to strengthen its commitment to the promotion and protection of democracy and human rights worldwide on the basis of multilateralism and international law.
The Report rightly emphasizes the importance of placing this at the heart of the EU’s diplomatic relations.
However, care needs to be taken not to position the EU in a role where it is perceived by outside powers as being hypocritical and applying double standards according to how the winds of its own special interests blow.
That perception has been growing, not least in the wake of the energy crisis.
Also I disagree with the Resolution’s call for qualified majority voting to replace unanimity on major policy issues.
There has to be compromise in developing an EU position: QMV will likely disallow medium and small sized countries from having a meaningful say in the development of such compromises.
Specifically therefore I voted against that part of the text which endorses QMV and confirm that I am totally against it.