en.europarl.conll

Resumption O
of O
the O
session O

I O
declare O
resumed O
the O
session O
of O
the O
European B-ORG
Parliament I-ORG
adjourned O
on O
Friday O
17 O
December O
1999 O
, O
and O
I O
would O
like O
once O
again O
to O
wish O
you O
a O
happy O
new O
year O
in O
the O
hope O
that O
you O
enjoyed O
a O
pleasant O
festive O
period O
. O

Although O
, O
as O
you O
will O
have O
seen O
, O
the O
dreaded O
' O
millennium B-MISC
bug I-MISC
' O
failed O
to O
materialise O
, O
still O
the O
people O
in O
a O
number O
of O
countries O
suffered O
a O
series O
of O
natural O
disasters O
that O
truly O
were O
dreadful O
. O

You O
have O
requested O
a O
debate O
on O
this O
subject O
in O
the O
course O
of O
the O
next O
few O
days O
, O
during O
this O
part-session O
. O

In O
the O
meantime O
, O
I O
should O
like O
to O
observe O
a O
minute O
' O
s O
silence O
, O
as O
a O
number O
of O
Members O
have O
requested O
, O
on O
behalf O
of O
all O
the O
victims O
concerned O
, O
particularly O
those O
of O
the O
terrible O
storms O
, O
in O
the O
various O
countries O
of O
the O
European B-ORG
Union I-ORG
. O

Please O
rise O
, O
then O
, O
for O
this O
minute O
' O
s O
silence O
. O

( O
The O
House B-ORG
rose O
and O
observed O
a O
minute O
' O
s O
silence O
) O

Madam O
President O
, O
on O
a O
point O
of O
order O
. O

You O
will O
be O
aware O
from O
the O
press O
and O
television O
that O
there O
have O
been O
a O
number O
of O
bomb O
explosions O
and O
killings O
in O
Sri B-LOC
Lanka I-LOC
. O

One O
of O
the O
people O
assassinated O
very O
recently O
in O
Sri B-LOC
Lanka I-LOC
was O
Mr O
Kumar B-PER
Ponnambalam I-PER
, O
who O
had O
visited O
the O
European B-ORG
Parliament I-ORG
just O
a O
few O
months O
ago O
. O

Would O
it O
be O
appropriate O
for O
you O
, O
Madam O
President O
, O
to O
write O
a O
letter O
to O
the O
Sri B-MISC
Lankan I-MISC
President O
expressing O
Parliament B-ORG
's O
regret O
at O
his O
and O
the O
other O
violent O
deaths O
in O
Sri B-LOC
Lanka I-LOC
and O
urging O
her O
to O
do O
everything O
she O
possibly O
can O
to O
seek O
a O
peaceful O
reconciliation O
to O
a O
very O
difficult O
situation O
? O

Yes O
, O
Mr O
Evans B-PER
, O
I O
feel O
an O
initiative O
of O
the O
type O
you O
have O
just O
suggested O
would O
be O
entirely O
appropriate O
. O

If O
the O
House O
agrees O
, O
I O
shall O
do O
as O
Mr O
Evans B-PER
has O
suggested O
. O

Madam O
President O
, O
on O
a O
point O
of O
order O
. O

I O
would O
like O
your O
advice O
about O
Rule O
143 O
concerning O
inadmissibility O
. O

My O
question O
relates O
to O
something O
that O
will O
come O
up O
on O
Thursday O
and O
which O
I O
will O
then O
raise O
again O
. O

That O
is O
precisely O
the O
time O
when O
you O
may O
, O
if O
you O
wish O
, O
raise O
this O
question O
, O
i.e. O
on O
Thursday O
prior O
to O
the O
start O
of O
the O
presentation O
of O
the O
report O
. O

Madam O
President O
, O
coinciding O
with O
this O
year O
' O
s O
first O
part-session O
of O
the O
European B-ORG
Parliament I-ORG
, O
a O
date O
has O
been O
set O
, O
unfortunately O
for O
next O
Thursday O
, O
in O
Texas B-LOC
in O
America B-LOC
, O
for O
the O
execution O
of O
a O
young O
34 O
year-old O
man O
who O
has O
been O
sentenced O
to O
death O
. O
We O
shall O
call O
him O
Mr O
Hicks B-PER
. O

This O
is O
all O
in O
accordance O
with O
the O
principles O
that O
we O
have O
always O
upheld O
. O

Thank O
you O
, O
Mr O
Segni B-PER
, O
I O
shall O
do O
so O
gladly O
. O

Indeed O
, O
it O
is O
quite O
in O
keeping O
with O
the O
positions O
this O
House B-ORG
has O
always O
adopted O
. O

All O
of O
us O
here O
are O
pleased O
that O
the O
courts O
have O
acquitted O
him O
and O
made O
it O
clear O
that O
in O
Russia B-LOC
, O
too O
, O
access O
to O
environmental O
information O
is O
a O
constitutional O
right O
. O

Now O
, O
however O
, O
he O
is O
to O
go O
before O
the O
courts O
once O
more O
because O
the O
public O
prosecutor O
is O
appealing O
. O

We O
know O
, O
and O
we O
have O
stated O
as O
much O
in O
very O
many O
resolutions O
indeed O
, O
including O
specifically O
during O
the O
last O
plenary O
part-session O
of O
last O
year O
, O
that O
this O
is O
not O
solely O
a O
legal O
case O
and O
that O
it O
is O
wrong O
for O
Alexander B-PER
Nikitin I-PER
to O
be O
accused O
of O
criminal O
activity O
and O
treason O
because O
of O
our O
involvement O
as O
the O
beneficiaries O
of O
his O
findings O
. O

These O
findings O
form O
the O
basis O
of O
the O
European B-MISC
programmes O
to O
protect O
the O
Barents B-LOC
Sea I-LOC
, O
and O
that O
is O
why O
I O
would O
ask O
you O
to O
examine O
a O
draft O
letter O
setting O
out O
the O
most O
important O
facts O
and O
to O
make O
Parliament B-ORG
's O
position O
, O
as O
expressed O
in O
the O
resolutions O
which O
it O
has O
adopted O
, O
clear O
as O
far O
as O
Russia B-LOC
is O
concerned O
. O

Yes O
, O
Mrs O
Schroedter B-PER
, O
I O
shall O
be O
pleased O
to O
look O
into O
the O
facts O
of O
this O
case O
when O
I O
have O
received O
your O
letter O
. O

Madam O
President O
, O
I O
would O
firstly O
like O
to O
compliment O
you O
on O
the O
fact O
that O
you O
have O
kept O
your O
word O
and O
that O
, O
during O
this O
first O
part-session O
of O
the O
new O
year O
, O
the O
number O
of O
television O
channels O
in O
our O
offices O
has O
indeed O
increased O
considerably O
. O

But O
, O
Madam O
President O
, O
my O
personal O
request O
has O
not O
been O
met O
. O

Although O
there O
are O
now O
two O
Finnish B-MISC
channels O
and O
one O
Portuguese B-MISC
one O
, O
there O
is O
still O
no O
Dutch B-MISC
channel O
, O
which O
is O
what O
I O
had O
requested O
because O
Dutch B-MISC
people O
here O
like O
to O
be O
able O
to O
follow O
the O
news O
too O
when O
we O
are O
sent O
to O
this O
place O
of O
exile O
every O
month O
. O

I O
would O
therefore O
once O
more O
ask O
you O
to O
ensure O
that O
we O
get O
a O
Dutch B-MISC
channel O
as O
well O
. O

Mrs O
Plooij-van B-PER
Gorsel I-PER
, O
I O
can O
tell O
you O
that O
this O
matter O
is O
on O
the O
agenda O
for O
the O
Quaestors O
' O
meeting O
on O
Wednesday O
. O

It O
will O
, O
I O
hope O
, O
be O
examined O
in O
a O
positive O
light O
. O