Председатель пасе* провел заседание по-русски
Вчера в Страсбурге впервые в истории ПАСЕ русская речь звучала с места председательствующего.
Заседание вел вице-спикер ПАСЕ Михаил Маргелов.
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Русский язык наряду с немецким и итальянским является в ПАСЕ рабочим, английский и французский – официальным. Регламент ассамблеи не запрещает ведение заседаний на рабочих языках. Синхронный перевод все равно ведется на всех пяти языках.
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Сегодня ПАСЕ рассматривает вопрос о приостановке членства Украины в Совете Европы, в случае если "политическая реформа в стране будет осуществляться в нарушении законодательства и неконституционными методами".
Известия
29 января, 2004
Текст 8
Конструктивность в политике предполагает отсутствие двойных стандартов (double standards), заявил президент России.
Так, Европа, по словам президента, предлагает России сесть за стол переговоров с учениками "террориста номер один". Однако сама Европа бен Ладену, который предлагал ей вступить в переговоры, отказала. "Непонятно тогда, почему к нам обращаются с предложениями подобного рода. Пускай ведут переговоры с бен Ладеном – а то хотят быть белыми и пушистыми".
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Проявлением двойного стандарта можно назвать и нежелание ряда европейских стран поддержать принятую комиссией ООН резолюцию против неонацизма и неофашизма. Хотя как раз в Латвии, которая станет с 1 мая членом ЕС и с которой никак не удается договориться о правах русскоязычного населения, проводятся шествия бывших эсэсовцев.
Известия
26 апреля, 2004
Урок 1 7
(Новая конституция Европейского союза. Обсуждение проекта конституции странами ЕС – EU Constitution)
Домашнее задание к уроку 17:
Выполните упражнения II, V, VI.
Упражнения
Упражнение I. For Reference. Read the two articles on Europe’s draft constitution:
Europe's draft constitution
T
he
leaders of the 25 current and future member states of the European
Union meet Friday in Brussels for a final round of negotiations on a
new constitution.
T
he
document must be approved unanimously and then ratified at the
national level by Parliaments or through referenda. Following are
some of the constitution’s key proposals:
MAJORITY VOTING
Part of the impetus behind the constitution was the fear that with 25 members, each with veto power in the Council of Ministers, decision making would be paralyzed. An extension of majority voting has become the framework’s most contentious issue.
Majority voting is limited to certain areas, and countries can block decisions in the Council of Ministers by declaring a vital national interest.
AN EU PRESIDENT
The European Council, made up of the leaders of the member states, will "elect its president by qualified majority for a term of two and a half years renewable once," the draft states. Their choice would be subject to approval by the European Parliament. Serving heads of government would be ineligible. Currently, a rotating presidency passes to a new member state every six months, a system widely seen as inefficient.
Small states fear the enhanced influence of the European Council would weaken the European Commission, the EU’s executive body and traditional ally of the smaller member states.
A MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS
The European Council, with the agreement ot the president, would also appoint a foreign minister. The aim is to give a higher profile to the EU’s foreign policy.
Britain and other countries object to the designation "foreign minister" because it implies the EU has a government of which the foreign minister is a member.
REFORM OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION
The largest of the EU institutions with about 15,000 staff members, the commission is the executive agency charged with ensuring the proper functioning of the EU single market; it also initiates legislation and often speaks for the EU as a whole. Each of the 25 member states is likely to be represented by at least one commissioner. Larger countries may be allowed two commissioners each, which would result in a total of 31.
Initially a slimmed-down commission was proposed consisting of 15 voting members and 10 associate members,
COMMON FOREIGN AND DEFENSE POLICY
The draft constitution says that the EU will define and implement "common foreign and security policy" and that member staiSS wili support that policy "actively and unreservedly."
The proposals do not call for majority voting on foreign policy unless heads of state and government, acting unanimously, order the ministers to take a vote. Britain, among others, insists on retaining a national veto over foreign and defense policy.
CHARTER OF FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS
The charter is designed to protect citizens against EU laws that might infringe on their basic rights.
Application of the charter could not be used to strike down purely national laws.
LEGAL SUPREMACY
The EU would become a legal entity in its own right, and its laws would take precedence over those of national Parliaments of its member states. "The constitution and law adopted by the Union institutions in exercising competences conferred upon it by the Constitution, shall have primacy over the law of the member states."
The EU would have authority to negotiate and ratify international treaties.
Sources: Center for European Reform; BBC.
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On July 1st, Italy becomes president of the European Union. It is a six-monthly handing over of the baton that elicits no excitement at all in normal circumstances, but these days the circumstances are not quite normal. Politically, Europe is split. Economically, it is sputtering. The war in Iraq has lacerated relations with its main ally, the United States. Ten newcomers are about to join the club and, if the expanded Union is not to find itself paralysed, agreement must be reached on a new constitution. It is plainly time for clear-sightedness, diplomatic finesse and the exercise of the sort of moral authority that comes with ungrudging respect.
Упражнение II. Подготовьте перевод текста с листа: