The EP has made a real political work in the context of German unification. Indeed, the EP was the first EU institution to speak about a possible German unification. In the aftermath of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the EC President, Jacques DELORS came to speak in formal sitting in Strasbourg on 22 November 1989, in the presence of Helmut KOHL, German Chancellor and François MITTERRAND, President of the French Republicand President-in-office of the European Council.

KOHL, Helmut (DE)

BARÓN CRESPO, Enrique (PSE, ES)

DELORS, Jacques (FR)

MITTERRAND, François (FR)

Address by Jacques DELORS, EC President, in formal sitting, on the situation in Eastern Europe after the fall of the Berlin wall (Strasbourg, 22/11/1989)

Title: Address by Jacques DELORS, EC President, in formal sitting, on the situation in Eastern Europe after the fall of the Berlin wall (Strasbourg, 22/11/1989)

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Enrique BARON CRESPO, EP President, "I give the floor to the President of the Commission Mr Delors"

SOUNDBITE (French), Jacques DELORS, EC President, "Mr President, the floor belongs first and foremost to you, the Members of the European Parliament, the directly elected representatives of the people and the expression of their will, and it is right that it should be so."

SOUNDBITE (French), Jacques DELORS, EC President, "We have also had the chance to hear, barely four days after an informal meeting of the Community Heads of State or Government, the President-in-office of the European Council, Francois Mitterrand, confirming that the Twelve were politically united and setting out the additional measures that were being taken as a matter of urgency. We have also had the good fortune to hear Chancellor Kohl reaffirming the Federal Republic's faith in and commitment to our Europe, our Community. President Giscard d'Estaing put it well when he spoke of the political birth of your Parliament. It is a major leap forward, and the momentum must now be maintained."

SOUNDBITE (French), Jacques DELORS, EC President, "I should just briefly like to tell you that the members of the Commission share your sentiments, that they are ready to lend strength to your action and help you to turn your hopes in the future into reality. In the first place, we share your sentiments. The words recurring time and again have been emotion and joy. I would add, if I may, solidarity, which must find expression in our hearts, solidarity towards our German friends on both sides of this Iron Curtain now in the process of melting away." (Applause)

SOUNDBITE (French), Jacques DELORS, EC President, "Our thoughts are especially with them. When a family member experiences joy or hope, then all the other members of the family should share that joy and that hope."

SOUNDBITE (French), Jacques DELORS, EC President, "I do not believe that any of us can recall a decision so important in the area of foreign policy cooperation as the political position adopted ast Saturday. I hope that we shall be able to learn our lesson from it and ensure that political cooperation, in other words foreign policy cooperation, moves forward at the same pace as economic integration."

SOUNDBITE (French), Jacques DELORS, EC President, "As everyone here has been quick to emphasize, the Community has for many years acted as a centre of gravity, a yardstick for freedom and for prosperity, and no doubt this has played a certain role in the events which the peoples of Eastern Europe have triggered."

SOUNDBITE (French), Jacques DELORS, EC President, "We want also to lend strength to your action. You know that the Commission &mdash; Vice-President Andriessen will reply to your questions on this point &mdash; has been instructed to coordinate aid to Hungary and Poland, and soon I hope other countries. You are familiar with the principal items: food aid, modernization of production structures, training, modernization of employment policies &mdash; for these countries have no experience of what a labour market involves &mdash; and, finally, joint measures in the field of the environment."

SOUNDBITE (French), Jacques DELORS, EC President, "A country that has run out of money or that rejects its currency is no longer capable of creating the foundations of a sound economy. I was therefore happy that the European Council should have declared its willingness, something I believe to be unprecedented in the history of our international organizations, to indicate to the International Monetary Fund that it was necessary and possible to decide quickly."

SOUNDBITE (French), Jacques DELORS, EC President, "Nothing must divert us from implementing the Single Act and the large internal market, all aspects of the Single Act, including its social dimension. If we fail to implement the decision we have taken we shall be incapable of making progress beyond 1992."

SOUNDBITE (French), Jacques DELORS, EC President, "To achieve all that, we shall need more resources. (Applause) I wanted to say that here, as you consider the 1990 budget. You will recall that in February 1988, after deciding on the great objective of the single market by 1992, after ratifying the Single Act, you adopted, under the German Presidency and with the notable support of Chancellor Kohl, the political and financial measures required to bring forward our common policies and demonstrate our solidarity within the Community."

SOUNDBITE (French), Jacques DELORS, EC President, "I ask you, in the two years ahead, to take the same political and financial decisions so as to enable us to demonstrate our solidarity outside the Community, not only with the other European countries, but also with the countries of the Mediterranean, the countries of Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific." (Applause and cutaways)

SOUNDBITE (French), Jacques DELORS, EC President, "It is said that luck can sometimes help, but that courage does so always. The peoples of Eastern and Central Europe have offered us the opportunity. It is we who must display the courage. My hope is that we shall display great courage." (Applause)