Brussels, 16/01/2007 (Agence Europe) - The opening of the European Parliament's plenary session in Strasbourg on Monday was marked by the warm welcome given by MEPs to their 53 new colleagues from Bulgaria (18) and Romania (35) as well as by the congratulations and thanks expressed by almost all the house to their outgoing president, Josep Borrell. After shaking hands with each of the new members to welcome them, Mr Borrell planted the Bulgarian and Romanian flags alongside the other 25 in the European house of representatives to applause. The presidents of the Bulgarian and Romanian parliaments attended the ceremony. “It is with joy and emotion that we welcome the new members”, he then said, stressing that the Parliament was now composed of 785 MEPs from 27 Member States, representing 177 European political parties. The current Romanian and Bulgarian MEPs were nominated by their national parliaments but elections will be held in coming months in these two countries, allowing citizens to directly elect their representatives, Mr Borrel said. He went on to stress that his recent visits to Romania and Bulgaria (31 December/1 January 2007) allowed to him to see how enthusiastic citizens were about Europe. This, he said, is reassuring at a time when euroscepticism is gaining ground. In addition to the historical and cultural interest of the new countries, the outgoing president also stressed the advantage that the EU will have with a new maritime border. Everyone is aware of the strategic importance of this, he said, particularly in the current energy context. Also, added Mr Borrel, “the EU, with its new borders with the Western Balkans, Ukraine, Moldova and Turkey, can enhance its neighbourhood policy” and benefit from the experience of Romania and Bulgaria.
Final speech of President Borrell: “EP is known and recognised better than in the past
Mr Borrell made his last speech as president and looked at the parliamentary work accomplished over the last two and a half years. He said that he was convinced that “Parliament is known and recognised better in the exercise of its functions'” than in the past. He said that Parliament had met the challenges of enlargement and successfully adopted a common status for MEPs. At a legislative level, Borrell cited the rejection of the directive on computer assisted inventions and the adoption of the directive on services, as well as the REACH regulation on chemical products. He underlined that without the close cooperation of the Parliament, an agreement on retaining data would not have been reached. Borrell said that MEPs “approved the Constitutional Treaty by a big majority” and now also had to “be closely involved in finding a solution to crisis” confronting the EU. Energy: Josep Borrell said that he was persuaded that it was around the combined energy/environment “couple” that the EU could find its “raison d'être”. Borrell highlighted Parliament's role on the international scene, especially with the sending of electoral observer missions to 26 countries: Ukraine, Palestine, Afghanistan, Congo and Venezuela. Human rights are also one of the central elements in the European Parliament identity, particularly with the annual award of the Sakharov price for freedom of spirit. He concluded his speech with a declaration on how it was such a great honour to preside the European Parliament and presented his best wishes to his successor. (hb)