Visit of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II to the European Parliament in Strasbourg : arrival at the airport of Strabourg with Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, arrival at the European Parliament, welcome by Egon Klepsch, EP President, formal sitting, address, diner at the town hall of Strasbourg, departure.

referendum on EU membership (T)

EU - United Kingdom (T)

official visit

formal sitting

ELIZABETH II (UK, QUEEN)

TRAUTMANN, Catherine (S&D, FR)

KLEPSCH, Egon A. (EPP, DE)

PHILIP, Duke of Edinburgh (UK)

Visit of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II to the European Parliament in Strasbourg

Arrival at the Airport of Her Majesty Queen EliZabeth and Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Welcomed by Egon KLEPSCH, EP President.

SOUNDBITE (German), Egon Alfred KLEPSCH, EP President, "Your Majesty, your Royal Highness, it is a great honour and pleasure for me to welcome you on behalf of all the Members of the European Parliament."

SOUNDBITE (German), Egon Alfred KLEPSCH, EP President, "Your Majesty's visit to this House comes at a time when the European Community is facing major challenges and having to take decisions on important aspects of its future development. InSeptember this year the European Parliament will celebrate the fortieth anniversary of its foundation. However, compared with the Mother of Parliaments, the British Parliament, it is still in its infancy."

SOUNDBITE (German), Egon Alfred KLEPSCH, EP President, "On 1st July it will be the turn of the United Kingdom to assume the Presidency of the Council of Ministers of the European Community for a period of six months. Its partners and countries outside the Community are looking forward to the British Presidency with wide ranging expectations. Your Majesty, with great esteem for your country and for the British people, may I inviteyou to address the Members of this House."

SOUNDBITE (English), ELIZABETH II, "Mr President, in a celebrated speech at Zurich in 1946, Winston Churchill described 'the tragedy of Europe'. He compared the richness and vitality of European achievement, in culture, arts and science, with the succession of self-destructive conflicts which has beset our Continent. Instead of being a force for civilisation and tolerance in the world, Europe and its rivalries have been too often the cause of war, and war on a world scale."

SOUNDBITE (English), ELIZABETH II, "Churchill drew a deceptively simple lesson. He sought to recreate the European family and provide it with a structure under which it can dwell in peace, in safety and in freedom. As I look around me in this ever more important Parliament of Europe, I believe that Members of Parliament, and all Europeans, can be proud of what has been achieved. I am grateful to you, Mr President, for your warm welcome. I thank your predecessors, Mr Enrique Baron and Lord Plumb, for asking me to make this visit. I would like today to consider how the European family is growing, and to look ahead to the challenges which face us."

SOUNDBITE (English), ELIZABETH II, "I welcome the opportunity to visit Strasbourg. This great city haslong been a centre of learning and culture, drawing its personality from two of our great European nations,while also suffering from the rivalries between them. After years of conflict, Strasbourg emerged as a triumphant symbol of the reconciliation between France and Germany which the founding fathers of the Com- munity saw as the precondition for a wider European peace. The European family contains diverse personalities. In this, and in its need for tolerance and mutualsupport, it is like any family."

SOUNDBITE (English), ELIZABETH II, "They fully recognized the scale of the task but their aims were much more ambitious than just a materialistic vision. For example, they fashioned the first Community, the European Coal and Steel Community, because they saw the coal and steel industries as the essential motor of war and peace, of national destruction or common pros- perity."

SOUNDBITE (French), ELIZABETH II, "To quote from the Memoires of Jean Monnet: 'Le charbon et I'acier etaient ala fois la cle de la puissance economique et celle de l'arsenal ou se forgeaient les armes de la guerre. Les fusionner par-dessus les frontieres serait leur oter leur prestige magnifique et les toumerait au contraire en gages de paix."

SOUNDBITE (English), ELIZABETH II, "In binding industry together the founding fathers sought to reconcile the peoples of Europe not just by sentiment but through solid ties of mutual self-interest. A European war was to be made not just unlikely butunthinkable. To quote Monnet again the aim was to 'enraciner des aujourd'hui un interet common.' You are part of an effort which is unique in the world's history. We are all trying to preservethe rich diversity of European countries because if that diversity is suppressed, we shall weaken Europe not strengthen it. Decisions need to be taken as close to the citizen as is compatible with their success but at the same time we have to strengthen the ability of Europeans to act on a European basis where the nature of a problem requires a European response. That was the necessary balance struck at Maastricht.""

SOUNDBITE (English), ELIZABETH II, "Standing here today I am conscious of the differences in national parliamentary traditions across the Community. The British Members will no doubt have brought to the deliberations of this House the vigorous tone of West- minster debate: a style which can be confrontational as some of my ancestors found!" (Laughter and applause)

SOUNDBITE (English), ELIZABETH II, "The differences of style and opinion are insignificant against the background of the proven commitment of Europeans today to reconciliation and democracy. Far better the tough talking and controversy of a genuine debate for which this Parliament is a forum thandrab uniformity. By your deliberations and well-contested decisions you reinforce the work of national parliaments. I welcome your contribution to European democracy." (Applause)

SOUNDBITE (English), ELIZABETH II, "The founders of our Community did not envisage a comfortable club with closed doors but a Community of challenge where Members are exposed to different points of view. We have today a dynamic entity which accepts new members while holding out ties of friendship and cooperation to a wider world. It is crucial that the Community continues to fulfil its international responsibility. This Parliament is itself outward looking and you underline it by your relationships, official and unofficial, with other countries and regions. The Community has always welcomed European nations which shared its fundamental aims. I am delighted that the Presidency of the Council is held today by Portugal. Further new members are knocking at the door. We should be confident of opening it to them for with each enlargement the Community has become stronger."

SOUNDBITE (English), ELIZABETH II, "Stronger or not, though, we cannot afford to be compla- cent. War has not been banished from the European continent. I think particularly of the war-tom republics of what used to be Yugoslavia. The healing process, symbolized by Strasbourg, remainsbadly needed elsewhere. But there is much to encourage us. We have shared the joy of the German people at the unification of their country after nearly forty years of repression in theEast. We have witnessed the triumph of democracy, and the demise of dictatorship, in Central Europe. With the collapse of the Berlin Wall, the 'Iron Curtain' has fallen. Our task now is to. tend and nurture the greenshoots of a democratic spring."

SOUNDBITE (English), ELIZABETH II, "TheCommunity is especially well suited to this task. Its institutions were built for reconciliation and to reflect common interest. This is an enterprise which cannot depend upon Europe's efforts alone; it will need the whole free world. But the Community's experience stands as an example of what canbe achieved. The Community is reinforcing political and economic change throughout Europe through direct help and increased trade. I am sure that it must do more: I am confident that it will. We are building on sound foundations. The Community offers the message of Churchill and of Monnet, that reconciliation can take the place of conflict. That diversity can be safeguarded within a democratic framework. That cooperation can deepen understanding, and build a real community of interest."

SOUNDBITE (English), ELIZABETH II, "So the message from the history of Strasbourg, of this Parliament, of the Community is surely a simple one, Mr President. We must ensure that the friendship and mutual respect, which we have built among ourselves, should extend more widely throughout our continent, and enrich our relations with the wider world. It is a worthy ambition, true to the conviction and example of the founding fathers of the Community. Others on our continent, long-established or newly emerged democracies, increasingly look towards the European Community. We must not let them down."

SOUNDBITE (English), ELIZABETH II, "I began with a quotation from a speech by Winston Churchill. I shall close by quoting one of Sir Winston's most distinguished predecessors - Lord Salisbury. In 1888,in a speech in Wales, he said: 'We are a part ofthe Communityof Europe, and we must do our duty as such.' One hundred and four years on, I salute the wisdom of those words. May God grant the same wisdom to us as we build, together, our European family." (Loud and sustained applause)

SOUNDBITE (German), Egon Alfred KLEPSCH, EP President, "Your Majesty, may I thank you personally and on behalf of the Members of this House for your address. The importance that you attach to European integration is an encouragement and inspiration to us all. The European Parliament will endeavour to work closely with the government and parliament of your country to create the conditions that will enable us to meet the challenges of the future in the period up to the year 2000 and beyond. The European Parliament is determined to fulfil its role as the body exercising genuine democratic scrutinyin the Community. Your Majesty, Your Royal Highness, you do us a very great honour by your visit. On behalf of this House, may I express my deepfelt thanks."

Diner at the town hall of Strasbourg in presence of Egon KLEPSCH, EP President and Catherine TRAUTMANN, Mayor of Strasbourg.