http://www.grahamwatsonmep.org/speecharchive.php Recent Speeches from Graham Watson MEP en-GB Graham Watson MEP http://www.grahamwatsonmep.org/ Prater Raines Ltd http://www.praterraines.co.uk/ (c) 2008 Graham Watson MEP 2008-07-19T16:25+01:00 United Kingdom http://www.grahamwatsonmep.org/speeches/000126/speech_to_the_55th_liberal_international_congress.html I come from the UK and I work in the European Parliament, so I speak from a European perspective. I am sometimes struck by how different our perspectives are. We are all created and enslaved by our histories. 2008-05-17T11:00+01:00 http://www.grahamwatsonmep.org/speeches/000125/welcome_to_slovenian_presidency.html Graham Watson, on behalf of the ALDE Group. - Mr President, I should like to address some remarks to Prime Minister Janša. President-in-Office, my group comes to you with one simple message: 'Europe expects'. It expects 2008 to be a year of progress. We expect that progress to start now. And we expect your Presidency to rise to the challenge. 2008-01-16T16:00+00:00 http://www.grahamwatsonmep.org/speeches/000124/the_eu_and_china.html Graham Watson, on behalf of the ALDE Group. - Madam President, I much admire the contribution of China to the development of world civilisation. In terms of technology, in terms of society and in terms of culture, China has probably contributed more than any other country to the development of humankind. 2007-12-12T11:00+00:00 http://www.grahamwatsonmep.org/speeches/000123/the_future_of_europe.html Graham Watson (ALDE). - Mr President, when Member States ratify the Reform Treaty, as we hope and believe they will, we can look forward, at long last, to a revitalised European Union - a Union with the capacity to confront new challenges, with the humility to listen to its citizens and with the political will to act. Ratification of the Treaty cannot come a moment too soon, and my Group thanks you, Mr Zapatero, for your efforts to speed up the process. 2007-11-28T11:20+00:00 http://www.grahamwatsonmep.org/speeches/000121/globalisation.html Others know, often better than we, that we already live in a global society. India, China and Brazil have caught the wave of opportunity and they are riding it high, while too much of Europe fears the wave crashing over it. 2007-11-14T19:20+00:00 http://www.grahamwatsonmep.org/speeches/000120/response_to_the_council_and_commission_statements_10th_october_2007.html Graham Watson, on behalf of the ALDE Group. - Mr President, Prime Minister Sócrates must feel like England's Henry V before the battle of Agincourt: hostile governments preparing for a fight, intent on weakening, even perhaps vetoing, treaty reform. President-in-Office, your Prime Minister must hold firm to Europe's red lines and he must deliver next week a treaty able to underpin a strong, responsive and effective Union. So it is 'Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more', for what should be the final battle in this constitutional war. 2007-10-15T11:20+01:00 http://www.grahamwatsonmep.org/speeches/000119/plenary_speech_on_immigration.html Graham Watson, on behalf of the ALDE Group. - Mr President, what could better illustrate the need for a common European immigration policy than the case of the Tunisian fishermen? Everything about that tragic event - from the migrants on a rubber boat on the high seas, to the people smugglers who put them there and the authorities who jailed their rescuers - is testament to the failure of Europe's approach to migration. 2007-09-26T00:00+01:00 http://www.grahamwatsonmep.org/speeches/000118/speech_on_terrorism.html Graham Watson, on behalf of the ALDE Group. - Mr President, if we go back just over 2 000 years, we will recall that in the autumn of 68 BC the world's only superpower suffered a terrorist attack by a band of loosely organised pirates, and in panic the Roman Senate granted Pompey, at least according to Plutarch, 'absolute authority and uncontrolled power over everyone' through the Lex Gabinia. By the oldest trick in the book, the military subverted liberty, democracy and the constitution with the assent of Rome's frightened citizens, and it took 1 800 years for mature democracy to resurface in Europe. 2007-09-07T11:32+01:00 http://www.grahamwatsonmep.org/speeches/000117/speech_in_the_house_to_welcome_the_incoming_portuguese_presidency_of_the_eu.html Graham Watson, on behalf of the ALDE Group. - Mr President, President-in-Office, the programme that you have presented combines clear goals with ample ambition. Success is not immanent, but Liberals and Democrats have high hopes of a European Union double act under the two Josés. Indeed, you appear to compete for the laurels of economic liberalism. As Britain's newspaper the Daily Mirror might say, 'It's the only way, José!' 2007-07-11T00:00+01:00 http://www.grahamwatsonmep.org/speeches/000116/german_presidency_report_from_the_european_council.html Graham Watson, on behalf of the ALDE Group. - President-in-Office, congratulations on a green light for Europe and a grand legacy for your leadership. 2007-06-27T00:00+01:00 http://www.grahamwatsonmep.org/speeches/000115/debate_in_the_house_on_palestine.html Graham Watson, on behalf of the ALDE Group. - Mr President, as Mr Schulz said, there can be no justification for the actions of Hamas militants, however badly the Palestinians have been treated. 2007-06-19T00:00+01:00 http://www.grahamwatsonmep.org/speeches/000114/speech_on_10th_anniversary_of_handover_of_hong_kong_to_the_prc.html "Wo de hen hao de pengyou 2007-06-09T00:00+01:00 http://www.grahamwatsonmep.org/speeches/000111/seminar_on_religious_minorities_as_a_cornerstone_of_europe.html Speakers: 2007-06-07T12:44+01:00 http://www.grahamwatsonmep.org/speeches/000113/response_in_the_house_to_council_and_commission_statements.html Graham Watson, on behalf of the ALDE Group. - Madam President, one thing we all know. Those of us here and those protesting at Heiligendamm. The key challenges facing our people; challenges like climate change, energy security and international crime remain unsolved because our institutions of government are no longer fit for purpose. 2007-06-07T00:00+01:00 http://www.grahamwatsonmep.org/speeches/000112/speech_in_the_european_parliament_on_the_situation_in_darfur.html The UN has called Darfur "the world's worst humanitarian disaster". 2007-06-07T00:00+01:00