Strasbourg, 12/03/2002 (Agence Europe) - On the fringe of the plenary session in Strasbourg, several MEPs added their signature to the declaration denouncing the "unacceptable positions" of the Italian minister and Lega leader, Umberto Bossi, regarding Europe. The declaration had been presented by the presidents of the Socialist, Liberal, Greens and United Left Groups: Enrique Baron, Graham Watson, Daniel Cohn-Bendit, Monica Frassoni and Francis Wurtz (see EUROPE of 7 March, p.4).
EP President Pat Cox, said his spokesman who answered questions on Monday evening (without once naming Umberto Bossi), considers it is not up to the European Parliament to comment on such matters, and that it is everyone's right to show "enthusiasm" or "euroscepticism". At the same time, Mr Cox admits that some Italian senior politicians have "overstepped the mark" and have expressed themselves in a "deeply offensive" way.
During a press conference with a view to the International Day for elimination of racial discrimination to be held for the sixth time, on 21 March, Pat Cox affirmed that people holding a public position (though he still did not mention Umberto Bossi by name) should avoid using abusive and racist language in their statements or during public debates.