Formal sitting – Ceremony to mark the 70th anniversary of the European Parliament
Speaker: Manfred WEBER (Germany, Group of the European People's Party (Christian Democrats) / Christlich-Soziale Union in Bayern e.V.)
Date: 2022-11-22

  Manfred Weber,  Chair of the Group of the European People's Party. – Madam President of the European Parliament, Commission President, dear prime ministers, 70 years of the European Parliament, our Parliament. I have to share with you my personal experience. When I entered the first time into this institution, into this building, I fell immediately in love with this institution. I experienced a parliament where everybody counts. I was young, 31 years old, and I immediately got the trust of my colleagues to deal with an important piece of legislation, in the LIBE file, in the LIBE Committee. Dear colleagues, when you understand that diversity, to have a colourful perspective about different ideas to solve problems, when you understand that this diversity is an advantage, then you fell in love with the European Parliament and that is what I did when entered here the first time. 
It is a very thin line here in this House to have on the one hand the party political position in mind but also the majority position, and you are defending the interests of this institution, the chamber of the European citizens. It is not the party that is in the centre here, not the Chancellor, not the Prime Minister, not even the Commission President, it is the bigger ‘we’, the bigger common interest which finally is driving this institution. 
70 years ago, we hear that our colleagues gathered here in Strasbourg for the first time, seven years – you said it, Prime Minister – after the brutal Second World War had ended. Unbelievable bravery what they showed to us as Europeans. Today, it’s now the right moment to celebrate this. The House of Democracy: a place where all Europeans are represented, a place where our political ideas from the common good bring us together, a place where a multinational parliament with broad, real legislative power like no other in the world is present. 
My group, the EPP, has always believed that only a democratic Europe – with a strong parliamentarian democracy – is a Europe which has future. Since its first official meeting of my group in June 53, my group contributed to strengthening this House, to being ambitious in the leadership in the spirit of cooperation with other political forces and together we were successful. 
But now we can go further, probably even much further. After this big success in 2014, when the first time this House – Jean-Claude Juncker, Martin Schulz – managed that the Commission President was based mainly on the majority here in this House, in 2019 we made other experiences. Now we have to prepare 2024. And the idea behind this is that people see that if they go to vote, they participate, they decide about the majorities, we come here together as elected people, and then we decide the programme and also the candidates for the next five years who has the power to do it. The people in Europe see the direct link between their participation in elections and then the outcome in political terms. That is what we want to guarantee. And don’t get me wrong, as an EPP Group leader and as EPP President, I am very proud that the first elected female president of the European Commission is an EPP candidate and the youngest President of the European Parliament, also a female candidate, is an EPP member, so we do not need a quota for this, we are very proud about this. 
When we speak about the strengthening of democracy, I want to underline that we should not continue legislative proposals based on Article 122, sounds technical but is very democratically important. We have to strengthen the European Parliament with the full right of legislative initiatives, with full rights on the budget and with the full right of investigation in the interest of our citizens. 
So there is still a way in front of us. And I see the Council members now in front of me, I would ask you, I really count on you, that Council members are not doing these speeches here in this House but also when they are at home, that we really are strong in developing even a stronger European Parliament.
 And at a time when democracy is under attack, like it is in Ukraine, we have to be the beacon of democracy for Europe and the world. It’s a great honour to serve in this institution. All the best for the upcoming 70 years.