Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-05-30-Speech-3-102"
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"en.20010530.5.3-102"2
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"Mr President, I also want to thank Mr Méndez de Vigo and Mr Seguro for this excellent report, which reflects the opinion of the vast majority here in the European Parliament. I am sure we will find that tomorrow in the vote. I should also like to note, however, that this is the first time the European Parliament is not saying a clear yes to a European treaty. This is something new and different from Maastricht and Amsterdam. I think it should sound an alarm to the governments that negotiated this treaty. We are not saying a clear yes because we are not satisfied with the results and because we believe neither freedom of action nor, of course, democratic control are guaranteed in a Union that is now being extended to 20 or 25 states.
The formal obstacles have been removed, but there are still material problems of efficiency and transparency. This is a cause for concern. It is why we cannot say a clear yes.
We want something to be done about what happened in Nice. I can only agree that there must now be a convention to prepare for the next European treaty. It must have a clear mandate to produce a treaty that the citizens, too, can read and understand. It must be a mandate for a constitutional treaty, a document that will create the basis for this enlarged Union.
I should like to confine myself to a core subject for this convention, namely removing the democratic deficit in the Union. We all talk about it, but we still have different ideas about how it should be done. I believe the most important institution for the citizens is the European Parliament, not the Council of Ministers. This Parliament must therefore be strengthened. We unite people, not states. We therefore need the Europe of citizens and not just a Europe of governments!"@en1
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