Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-04-12-Speech-3-028"
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"en.20000412.2.3-028"2
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"Madam President, Minister, Deputy Minister, Commissioner, we are at a really very important juncture so far as the vocation of the European Union is concerned. Today, through the proceedings of the Intergovernmental Conference, the European Union is being called upon to address the great challenges involved in the transition from the 20th to the 21st century, challenges we all recognise, which are important, which influence the course of the European Union every day, and challenges which, above all, raise a fundamental issue: how ready are we, as an institution, as the European Union, to face them? The Intergovernmental Conference attempts to answer just that question. It is common ground that in the face of all those challenges, the way the European Union functions at present is certainly in need of some changes, changes whose important aim will be the future progress of the European Union on the basis of what we have all accepted until now.
The report you have before you today is significant in that it covers the following points. The first point is once again to consolidate the institutional nature of the European Union. We repeat and insist that the European Union is both a union of states and a union of peoples. It is precisely our acceptance of that principle which has guided the European Union towards the many successes we can mention, and which, of course, we all like to refer to from time to time.
The second point is to reconfirm and consolidate another important principle, the principle of a balance of powers, a principle that relates precisely to the role and relationship of those who participate in the European Union, a principle expressed by the way all the Member States express themselves in all – I repeat, all – the European Union’s institutional bodies. And as you know, the European Union has got to where it is today, achieved what it has achieved, precisely because it has been and is functioning on the basis of a balance of powers as agreed and commonly accepted.
The third basic principle safeguarded in the report is the proposal for a general – and I stress the word general – review of all the institutional bodies that make up the European Union. For some, perhaps, that may be a risky proposal. However, I must stress that it is necessary and essential, particularly since we all agree that over and above all, the current reconsideration of how the European Union works is directly linked to the great challenge presented by the European Union’s enlargement. It is only natural, when already in a Europe with 15 Member States we find and all agree that some things do not work quite so well and must be put right, that this will be all the more necessary when we it concerns a European Union with 18, 20, 25 and 27 Member States.
The fourth point concerns a number of new proposals, despite the fact that the issues to which they relate had always been debated. I refer very specifically to closer cooperation. Closer cooperation, at least as we view it, must comprise two main elements. Firstly, it must be an incentive and not an obstacle – I stress: not an obstacle – it must be an incentive for all the Member States to participate more and in greater depth in the European procedures. Secondly, it must contain a very highly developed element of democratic awareness, which means that if any country or countries for some reason do not wish to participate, at least during a first phase, this should not be regarded as an exclusion or as a factor that restricts the presence of those countries in the European Union.
We have taken a great many steps and we certainly can point to two examples of closer cooperation. The Schengen Agreement, and Economic and Monetary Union itself. I would also like to see closer cooperation in foreign policy issues and others as well. To put it clearly, closer cooperation is a Community process and both foreign policy and common defence policy issues should be dealt with as a Community process, because it provides control mechanisms. I would like to close by expressing my thanks to the Portuguese Presidency and in particular to Mr da Costa for his cooperation, to Commissioner Barnier, to you and all our colleagues, and of course, to my co-rapporteur Mr Leinen, with whom we worked hard but very well. I would also like to thank the members of Parliament’s Secretariat who assisted us and the interpreters, who on very many occasions worked long hours to enable the difficult negotiations you all know about to take place."@en1
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