A missed opportunity: that was the feeling of a large majority of MEPs after the vote of 26 October on a Resolution about the peace process in the Basque country. Instead of being invited to give a unanimous vote, backed by all the political forces in Europe, opposing violence and supporting peace, as often happened in the European Parliament in the past (on Ireland, the Balkans, the Middle-East etc.), Spain’s partners were called on to pass judgment for or against the method applied by the Zapatero Government to restore peace in its country. Not surprisingly, Parliament divided neatly in half, the motion drawn up by the PSOE gaining a tiny relative majority (321 votes against 311).
Our Basque friends who came to Strasbourg to attend the debate were happy, even proud, to see the Basque problem raised in Parliament. But how could they be satisfied with the result of the operation? On such a subject and at such a time, nothing would have been easier than to achieve unanimity in Strasbourg.
The European Council had shown the way in a statement issued last March, which we could have taken up as it stood. The participation of the Christian Democrats and Social Democrats in the same German Government is assisting the dialogue between left and right in the European Parliament, as also is the spectacular shift towards the centre which their young leader, David Cameron, has imposed on the British Conservatives. Needless to say, the French representatives in all parts of the House were banking on the same outcome, while the Irish were ready to place their experience at the disposal of this new cause.
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