Exhibition
The European Union steps into the new millennium. The plenary hosts guests who speak to the profound changes affecting people in the EU and beyond, from the enlargement of the European Union to the defence of human rights worldwide.
14 March 2001: Anna Lindh
Anna Lindh, President-in-Office of the Council addressed the plenary session in 2001, during Sweden’s Presidency of the European Union. Lindh rose to prominence through her diplomacy to help avert war in the then former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. She died in 2003, after being attacked in a Stockholm department store.
... Employment and welfare are the most important issues for the citizens of Europe. If we fail, we face, besides increasing unemployment, xenophobia and greater divisions in society, a crisis of confidence in the Union.
Anna Lindh, 14 March 2001
Draft Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe
Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, President of the European Convention on the Future of Europe, presented the draft Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe to Parliament on 3 September 2003.
We have sown the seeds, and that is the most important task in spring. From those seeds, as we have said, we hope that a true European people, a European demos, will grow.
Valéry Giscard d’Estaing
2003 Sakharov Prize: Kofi Annan and the staff of the UN
President Pat Cox presented Secretary-General of the UN Kofi Annan with the 2003 Sakharov Prize.
In its long history, Europe has seen more than its fair share of war, tyranny and terrible suffering. But Europeans have replaced that with a future of hope. You have pursued the path of peace through multilateralism. And today, the European Union is a shining light of tolerance, human rights, and international cooperation.
Kofi Annan, 29 January 2004
The 2004 enlargement
On 1 May 2004, 10 new Member States – Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia – joined the EU in Europe’s largest enlargement.
26 September 2006: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of the Republic of Liberia, addressed the Parliament on efforts to ‘build a new Liberia from the ashes of an old turbulent past to a future of hope and promise.’
The first LUX Prize
Since 2007, the annual LUX Prize has honoured European films that spark debate on current political and social issues and reflect on European identity and values. The first LUX Prize was awarded to Fatih Akin for the film Auf der anderen Seite (The Edge of Heaven) during a ceremony in Strasbourg on 24 October 2007.
EU Charter of Fundamental Rights
The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights was signed in the European Parliament on 12 December 2007.
50 years of the European Parliament
The European Parliament celebrated its 50th anniversary on 12 March 2008 in Strasbourg.
24 September 2008: Patriarch Bartholomew I
His Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I addressed the European Parliament plenary on 24 September 2008. He remarked,
Here, in this great hall of assembly of the European Parliament ... you have recognised the importance of intercultural dialogue, especially at a time in the history of Europe when transformations are taking place in every country and along every societal boundary.
8 October 2008: Íngrid Betancourt
On 8 October 2008 – a year that marked the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights – Íngrid Betancourt, Colombian politician and anti-corruption activist gave an emotional speech on her kidnapping, and ‘how much the world needs Europe to speak out.’
20 years of the Sakharov Prize
17 December 2008 marked the 20th anniversary of the Sakharov Prize. The Prize was awarded to Hu Jia, an activist who brought the world’s attention to the Tiananmen Square massacre, AIDS issues and human rights abuses in China.
Elena Bonner, the widow of the prize’s namesake Andrei Sakharov, attended the ceremony.
We should never make concessions when human rights are in danger ... since that forms the same foundation for our future and our civilisation.
Elena Bonner, 17 December 2008