Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, we had the opportunity to congratulate our President on his new office on 15 January, and I want to do so again today. Mr President, I would like to express our group's congratulations and appreciation to you for the way you have just spoken. One got the feeling from your speech that your role as President is not just a representative duty for you, but that politics, what we can do here in Parliament, is something close to your heart. In any case, it is that sentiment that communicated itself to us. We want to thank you for that and express the hope that you will be able to keep to this policy in these two and a half years of practical work. Mr President, I feel particular gratitude for the way you spoke out in favour of us inviting observers from the candidate countries to Parliament and to our groups once the treaties have been signed. I think that this idea, which our Group of the has promoted for some time, is an excellent one. We must make it clear that political debate must not be dominated by such issues as when agricultural aid is going to be fully operational in the candidate countries, when these or those other conditions are going to be complied with, but we must rather be saying clearly even now to people in the candidate countries: you are welcome in our community of shared values. That is why we also want soon to welcome to Parliament members of the national parliaments as observers, as partners in dialogue, as people with whom we can discuss the future of Europe. We are right alongside you if you are about to put that formally into effect by means of resolutions. You rightly spoke about the strategic partnership in the Mediterranean countries, in which context you mentioned human rights. It is easy for us in this House to talk about human rights in quite abstract terms. We have been talking about terrorism in recent weeks and months. My group is definitely in favour of combating terrorism, but, in the weeks, months and years ahead, we must take care not to permit violations of human rights in the name of counter-terrorism. (Applause) This means that we must speak out when human rights are violated. Let me give Chechnya as a quite specific example. We must not close our eyes to what is happening in Chechnya just because we say we have to combat terrorism. This is something we cannot allow! (Applause) You mentioned interinstitutional balance. It is with great disquiet that I see how some governments are now trying, for whatever reasons they may have, to cut down to size the European Commission's role as Guardian of the Treaties. Even though it may bring us into dispute with a government on our side, our group will not permit a crucial Community institution such as the Commission to have its rights and powers interfered with. It is the Commission that is the Guardian of the Treaties! Madam Vice-President Loyola de Palacio, we urge you to pursue this approach with determination. We are there alongside you. Much has been said about the Convention. We are, in fact, going to be discussing it this afternoon with the President. I believe that, right from the start, we have to counteract the impression that it is not the Convention that is to play the principal role. We have a praesidium in which there are three people with specific offices: the chairman and his two deputies. We need working procedures for the Convention. That is the new method and you have given it expression. We need a way of working that is transparent and public, and that is why the Convention as a whole must be at the heart of the work. The work cannot be delegated to the praesidium, to the triumvirate of the chairman and his two deputies. It is clear that the leadership function naturally devolves upon the praesidium, but the work tempo – including the frequency of the Convention's meetings – must be such that it is the Convention that conducts the debate on the future of Europe. Turning to the issue of the statute, which you have addressed, our group supports the introduction of a Members' Statute, but we also say that Members' independence, integrity and dignity must be guaranteed, and, in law, it is we who draw up the Members' Statute – and not the Council! So, at the end of the day, this is not about us saying ‘yes’ to something proposed by the Council, but rather we are the ones who make the proposal, and then we must work with the Council towards a result. Please permit me a concluding observation, Mr President. You have just referred to Mr von Wogau's report on the financial services proposals and on the Lamfalussy Final Report, on which we voted yesterday. I am addressing my remarks to Mr Ramón de Miguel and to the Council when I say that this was a fine hour for the three institutions, the Commission, the Council and Parliament. If that is how we go about our business in future, we will achieve something. This is not just about which of us – Commission, Council or Parliament – achieves the most; on the contrary, our common task is to get Europe moving. Your speech, Mr President, was manifestly in this spirit. We stand alongside you, encouraging you to be committed and consistent in giving your words practical expression over the next two and a half years. (Applause)

Political group: PPE-DE