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20 Most Recent Speeches
Keynote address on Common Concern for the Arctic
Speech by Diana Wallis MEP, Vice-President of the European Parliament delivered to attendees of the Nordic Council of Ministers' conference on Common Concern for the Arctic on Tue 9th Sep 2008
I must start with an apology on behalf of the President of our Parliament, the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Pöttering. He very much wished to attend this event.
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Read "Keynote address on Common Concern for the Arctic" in full (1471 words).
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eParliaments & the eEU
Speech by Diana Wallis, Vice-President of the European Parliament delivered to attendees of the European Parliament's Slovenia Information Office's seminar on eParliaments on Sun 15th Jun 2008
Thank you for inviting me to this 'e-conference' in Bled. This is my fourth visit to Slovenia and my first to Bled, with still one more to go before your Presidency ends. That's some going.
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Expectations for the Final Common Frame of Reference
Speech by Diana Wallis MEP delivered to ERA, Ljubljana, Slovenia on Tue 29th Apr 2008
Thank you for inviting me here to speak again on the subject of European Contract law and the CFR on behalf of the European Parliament. In a sense it is very helpful to be here at this time and to hear the current status of thought in both the other two institutions. It is helpful to me because we in the Parliament are currently in the course of drafting a question and resolution on the CFR for debate with the Commission. It was appropriate that the Commission should speak first today, as it will be up to the Commission to deliver some form of proposal in the coming months, and now we also have a positive and clear position from the Council. The agreed Council position may perhaps be summarised as follows: the CFR should be a tool for better law-making comprising a set of non-binding guidelines to be used by the lawmakers at Community level on a voluntary basis as a common source of inspiration or reference.
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Read "Expectations for the Final Common Frame of Reference" in full (2171 words).
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Why we have to stand up to the threat of racists and fascists
Speech by Diana Wallis MEP delivered to Yorkshire & the Humber Liberal Democrats Regional party Conference, Scarborough on Sat 17th Feb 2007
In 2004 the BNP were just 70,000 votes away from winning their first seat in the European Parliament: a seat in this region, our region. It was their best result in the UK.
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Read "Why we have to stand up to the threat of racists and fascists" in full (1426 words).
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European Integration: British Experience and Perspectives
Speech by Diana Wallis MEP delivered to Forum für Universität und Gesellschaft, University of Berne on Thu 16th Nov 2006
This last weekend saw an interesting and popular development in British-EU relations, as the arch Eurosceptic daily newspaper, the Express, gave over its entire front page to proclaim the likely benefits of a European Court of Justice judgement due later this month. This is a first; they normally spend most of their column inches bemoaning judgements from both Luxembourg and Strasbourg as an intrusion on our national way of life and our sovereignty. So what was it that was coming from Brussels and Luxembourg that they liked the look of, you may well ask? Well, quite simply, the right to buy cheap alcohol and tobacco over the internet from other EU countries which would not be subject to the higher rates of UK excise duty, but instead just to the lower rates in the country of origin. So the Daily Express is now converted to the benefits of the EU's internal market and we can all drink ourselves silly this Christmas on cheap foreign beer. Yes, we British are won over to the European integration that easily! Or are we?
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Read "European Integration: British Experience and Perspectives" in full (3777 words).
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Is it time for an Arctic Charter? Perspectives on governance in the Arctic Region
Speech by Diana Wallis MEP delivered to Seventh Conference of Arctic Parliamentarians of the Arctic Region, Kiruna, Sweden, 3 August 2006 on Thu 3rd Aug 2006
I attended my first meeting of this conference six years ago in Rovaniemi, Finland. At that conference one of the important presentations was the one by Professor Oran Young on Arctic governance. Even then he made it clear that all was not as it should be if we were properly listening and ready to protect this fragile area of the globe and to heed the warning signals it was giving off in relation to our world. His words and the description by Sheila Watt-Cloutier, from the Inuit Circumpolar Conference, of the subtle changes to the nature of her homeland remained with me for long afterwards.
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Read "Is it time for an Arctic Charter? Perspectives on governance in the Arctic Region" in full (2567 words).
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Constitution for Europe: what could it mean for the EEA?
Speech by Diana Wallis MEP, President of the EEA Joint Parliamentary Committee delivered to EFTA Parliamentary & Consultative Committee's Conference, Reykjavik 21 October 2004 on Thu 21st Oct 2004
Thank you for inviting me to your 10th birthday party. This is your celebration. Through your unique and structured relationship with the EU over the last 10 years you have enjoyed access to the benefits of the growing Internal Market on 'almost' equal terms with Member States. It has, I think we can say without qualification, been a positive experience all round, assisting the development of the home economies in the EEA/EFTA states and on the EU side broadening even further the spread and extent of the Internal Market, a market now the biggest in the world. As an aside it is interesting to note that a British newspaper carried an article just last week about the numbers of British people buying property in Reykjavik. At the same of course we are aware too of Icelandic businesses buying up sections of Britain's high streets.
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Read "Constitution for Europe: what could it mean for the EEA?" in full (2604 words).
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"Everything but the Institutions"; Iceland in a Post Enlargement European Union
Speech by Diana Wallis MEP delivered to University of Reykjavik, Reykjavik, Iceland, Wednesday 5th May 2004 on Wed 5th May 2004
It has perhaps become rather too common in the European Union, particularly over the last year, to talk of everything as being 'historic'. Yet whatever one's point of view, the enlargement of the European Union at one hit, from 15 to 25 countries, must be an historic event of some significance. It can be felt in the Parliament; there is a sense of expectation, of excitement, especially against the backdrop of the countries involved from Central and Eastern Europe, at last freed from the dead weight of communism. Our final parliamentary session of this mandate before the elections will be in May, when the accession members will join us as full members. It will be emotionally charged; one that I would not miss for anything. It will be historic!
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Read ""Everything but the Institutions"; Iceland in a Post Enlargement European Union" in full (2304 words).
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Playing in the European Premiership
Speech by Diana Wallis MEP delivered to Liberal Democrat Federal Conference, Brighton on Mon 22nd Sep 2003
Well colleagues, we have a truly European morning at a Liberal Democrat conference; speeches from two liberal leaders of our European Parliament groups and a debate on our pre manifesto for next year's elections to the European Parliament. Which other British political party would dare to have a morning devoted to open debate and comment about Europe? Certainly not the Tories, and of course, Labour still too timid to grasp the issue - every time Cook, Hain or MacShane (that rhymes quite nicely) say anything remotely progressive or interesting they get pulled back into line. Contrast this with the introduction to our policy document written by Charles - nothing could be a clearer commitment to our positive stance on Europe. Positive but also ready to be a candid and critical friend when necessary.
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The Northern Dimension
Speech by Diana Wallis MEP delivered to Seminar: 'The High North, the EU-Northern Dimension and the Arctic Window - Challenges and Policy Options' on Tue 29th Apr 2003
I would like to share some thoughts with you as a Parliamentarian about the nature of the Northern Dimension on the eve of the historic enlargement of the European Union.
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Read "The Northern Dimension" in full (1205 words).
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e-Europe
Speech by Diana Wallis MEP delivered to seminar in the European Parliament on 'The Regional Implications of Broadband Policy' on Thu 3rd Apr 2003
Thank you for inviting me here today to speak about the Regional Implications of Broadband Policy. I want to make preliminary remarks about the information society in which we now live and about regions and regionalism in general.
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Read "e-Europe" in full (1506 words).
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Working Together to eradicate racism
Speech by Diana Wallis MEP delivered to Ethnic Minority Liberal Democrats Annual Conference on Sun 15th Dec 2002
Thank you for inviting me here today to address the question: "Can the political xenophobic agenda in Europe be contained by the Equalities and Human Rights legislative agenda of the European Parliament?"
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Intervention on the Arctic Window
Speech by Diana Wallis MEP delivered to Ministerial Conference on the Northern Dimension and the Arctic Window in Ilulissat, Greenland on Wed 28th Aug 2002
Firstly, I want to extend my thanks to the Danish Presidency and to our Greenland hosts for arranging this second conference on the Northern Dimension and specifically the 'Arctic Window'.
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Read "Intervention on the Arctic Window" in full (660 words).
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Visiting Europe
Speech by Diana Wallis MEP delivered to Liberal Democrat Federal Conference, Manchester on Mon 11th Mar 2002
This week in the Parliament in Brussels I had a group of forty visitors from my constituency of Yorkshire and the Humber. It is always interesting with visitors to see their reaction to the European Parliament. Also it is a chance to hear presentations from representatives of the other institutions about their work. Like, for example, the young British civil servant from the UK Rep in Brussels, telling us how the Foreign and Commonwealth office organise their Brussels operation based on Whitehall departments, and how the operation is called 'EU Command'! This would seem to imply a vision of a relationship where Downing Street seeks to command the EU. With this Government nothing would surprise me!
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Read "Visiting Europe" in full (1789 words).
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Undelivered speech on Gender Balance
Speech by Diana Wallis MEP delivered to Liberal Democrat Federal Conference, Bournemouth on Mon 1st Oct 2001
In 1970 I was a 6th former. Two events shaped my thinking on women's issues. Firstly I got to play Mrs. Pankhurst in the school's production of 'Oh What a Lovely War!' and, second, my then drama teacher gave me a book, covered in brown paper - to hide the picture on the front cover - Germaine Greer's 'The Female Eunuch'. I was enthralled, inspired, I wanted to go out and fight battles on behalf of womankind.
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Read "Undelivered speech on Gender Balance" in full (600 words).
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Archive of earlier Speeches.
 Speech Feed(v1.0).
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