Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-11-29-Speech-3-071"
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"en.20001129.7.3-071"2
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"Mr President, on the face of it, the Nice Summit is all about making the necessary adaptations and dealing with the leftovers in the light of enlargement. But there is far more than that at stake. The Nice Summit will not just address the issue as to whether the Member States are prepared to give up their Commissioner, it will mainly be concerned with their willingness to give shape to the type of European political cooperation that promotes the interests of the European citizen, transcending national interests.
It has frequently come to our notice of late that this political cooperation is totally absent. A brilliant example is, of course, the nationally motivated measures, and the reaction to the unrest over the high diesel and petrol prices; where concerted action could have given a huge boost to the credibility of European political cooperation in the eyes of the citizens.
Bearing in mind the need to deepen the Union, the Heads of Government must change tack and extend qualified majority voting to a substantial degree. If we are serious about deepening European cooperation then it is absolutely vital to exercise effective democratic control over the European decision-making process. That is why qualified majority voting must always go hand in hand with Parliament’s right of codecision. Eighty per cent of all amendments tabled by Parliament in past months were adopted by the Council. So we evidently make an enormous contribution in qualitative terms.
As Mrs Berès said, it is of course untenable to draw a distinction and give us codecision rights in consumer affairs on the one hand, but at the same time, only give us consultation rights in agricultural matters. Let us just think back to the recent BSE-crisis. Just what are we supposed to tell our citizens?
Mr Méndez de Vigo has just made reference to the Charter, and rightly so. This is a subject that is, of course, very dear to Parliament’s heart. It is the embodiment of the citizen’s Europe, this Charter of Fundamental Rights. But now that this Charter is to be incorporated in the Treaties in Nice, certain governments have evidently given vent to their opposition. We consider this to be unacceptable, because by incorporating this document into the Treaties of the European Union, fundamental standards and values of the constitutional state and the social welfare state are being embedded in the European structures.
I would warn our Heads of Government against taking an over-minimalist stance in Nice. As the President of the Commission, Mr Prodi, said, qualified majority voting, together with codecision – Article 62 linking the Charter with the Treaties – is to be the litmus test for our Heads of Government. We have a saying in the Netherlands that goes: ‘if you set the standard too low you will trip over it’. Our European project must not be allowed to trip up in this way. Should we falter, this will provoke Parliament’s condemnation. So we are banking on success, but it is up to you to make it happen."@en1
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