Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-07-04-Speech-3-030"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20010704.1.3-030"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"President-in-Office of the Council, you said in your speech that you wished to bring Europe closer to its people. The gap is, in fact, now widening and you will have to work hard to bridge this gap, especially given the disastrous effect produced by the contempt shown by the Gothenburg Council with regard to the democratic views of the Irish people.
Unfortunately, the advanced federalism that you are advocating, with some audacity, it has to be said, for a presidency that will have to seek consensus, this federalism will only widen the gap between Europe and its citizens. What should we do in order to bring the two back together? First of all, of course, we must respect national democracies and we regret that the recent memorandum from Benelux on the future of the European Union does not make any reference at all to this respect. We want a Europe that respects its people in practice and, as a start, we request that the next Intergovernmental Conference be prepared by the national parliaments and by these alone, and not the confused and illegitimate authorities or the committees of so-called wise men
which only succeed in sending Europe down dead end roads. Respect for national democracies also involves avoiding projects that flout national sovereignties, such as the European tax which, in fact, Mr Verhofstadt, you are advocated by renaming it the ‘direct funding of the European budget’. It is the national parliaments and they alone that must have the right to tax, because it is the national parliaments who have the most vital legitimacy.
Lastly, we can close the gap between Europe and its people by listening to them, which is obviously what we did not do when we decided to that the euro would replace the national currencies, rather than just complementing them, which would give rise to huge practical difficulties. This is a mistake, you will see this between now and the end of the year, and, in order to make amends, in order to bring the people closer to Europe, we will have to gain a better understanding of the practical problems that the citizens face and we must of course show great flexibility."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples