Plenary zapping - July 2012

No emergency surgery, no transplant, no long period of recuperation is going to save ACTA. The Commission will maintain its request to the European Court of Justice for an opinion on whether ACTA is compatible with the Treaties and in particular with the Charter of the Fundamental Rights of the EU. The Community method has proven to be a enduring, strong weapon in the defence of our common interests and it must be protected by every means possible. Your country cannot lead the European Union by size or strength, so you must lead by example. Lead by example on economic growth. Use the EU's influence to help reunify Cyprus people, not by being mortgaged to Moscow, nor by evading engagement with Ankara. Mr Watson, don't you think, particularly when this criticism is coming from you, who represents a country that has been a colonial power that bares part of the responsibility for the division of this island... The compact for growth and jobs adopted last week in the EU Council is the perfect completion of our Presidency. The compact does not solve all Europe's problems, but it is, however, a light in the dark. We need reforms in our Member States and collective action at the level of the EU and the eurozone. All this has to go hand in hand. It takes time. It demands courage. It will be implemented step by step. Yes, on that Friday morning, 'Breakthrough!' was cried and indeed Mr Van Rompuy parroted the word this morning: 'Breakthrough!' Nobody believes you and I think the euro crisis now looks to me to be frankly insoluble.

EuroparlTV video ID: 15266875-d18a-4ea8-9ea3-a08501225d4f