Madam President, President of the Commission, President-in-Office of the Council, the Group of the hopes that this debate will send three messages to the European public. Let it be noted that we are completely united on all three counts. Firstly, we wish to express our total support for, and our solidarity with, the statement of the Presidency-in-Office of the Council and the 14 Member States, because we believe that this statement is in accordance with the common values, and not just the political force, which we have all built together. In any event, these common values are in complete opposition to those held by the party ironically known as the Austrian Freedom Party. The Europe we are building is born of the bitter experiences we have all suffered, and the Socialist Group condemns the insults which have been directed at the President of the French Republic and the Belgian Government, but also at the Socialists, who are European citizens as well, because, at the moment, the Austrian Socialists are being described as traitors to their country. I will say one thing. For many years I was a traitor to my country; at least that was General Franco’s view. (Applause) President Guterres was also a traitor in Salazar’s eyes, and that is something that I believe should also be stated and defended by the . I also believe that the Commission, or President Prodi, has acted as a guardian of the Treaties. However, I would remind him that, during his inaugural debate, he described the Commission as a European government. A government must have more nerve and more courage. That is what I am asking President Prodi for at this moment. (Applause) With all due respect to a Commissioner as effective as Mr Fischler, and given that we have heard contradictory comments, depending on the translation, with regard to a possible request by President Prodi for the resignation of Mr Fischler, I would be very grateful if this point could be clarified in this House. Secondly, Madam President, we wish to send a very clear message to the Austrian people. This is an appeal to the majority of Austrians who have not voted for Haider, who have voted for the clearly democratic options, committed to Europe, and I must point out that Mr Schüssel may have been Minister for Finance, but Chancellor Vranitzky also contributed to Austria’s integration process. We should not be so politically partisan. The accession of Austria to the Community was a joint venture. We all took part in it, not just one group. Therefore, Madam President, I believe that it is our right and our obligation to ask the Austrians to reconsider and reflect, because this type of menace, which we have suffered before in Europe, may not only harm Austria, but it may also spread, and I say this bearing history in mind. Therefore, apart from the apology which Mr Schüssel has made, offering us all kinds of guarantees, as did Chamberlain and Daladier in 1938 in Munich, I would like to know whether the PPE intends to implement measures in relation to the Austrian People’s Party, if it goes ahead with this mad project. Thirdly, if we do not stand up to this unnatural alliance, I can assure you that we can forget the European Union’s main objective – enlargement – because, if we were Czechs, Slovenes or Hungarians, what would we say, faced with a neighbour who judges us on racial grounds and does not want us to enter? I therefore think that this is a great day for European politics to commence. We support the Council and we believe that it is our right and our obligation to appeal to the Austrian people to seriously reconsider this completely crazy option. (Applause from the Group)

Political group: PSE