Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-05-15-Speech-3-284"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20020515.10.3-284"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, clarity, precision and intelligibility – these are obvious bywords in any body of rules and regulations. They apply to parlour games, sport, constitutions and society in general. Strangely enough, these bywords have not really left their mark on successive European Treaties and legislative texts over the years. Indeed, the EU acquis is no game of dominoes, but affects 370 million people.
As a result of haggling over the least comma, anyone wanting to understand how the EU works is hardly likely to choose the Amsterdam Treaty, let alone the Nice Treaty, as bedtime reading if he or she wants to learn more. It is not surprising that people do not trust the EU when it is so difficult to understand its decisions and division of responsibilities. We too can get confused, even though we work with these matters on a daily basis.
Mr Lamassoure’s report is therefore an extremely important contribution to the Convention and to the domestic debate in our Member States. The proposal provides a clear, instructive catalogue of what the EU is and should be doing. This will be very useful when discussing a hopefully timely constitution. The division of powers needs clarifying, perhaps not with a list of competences, but with a clearer outline of what the EU should do.
The EU must be stronger in certain areas, but there must also be safeguards against the EU taking on new duties that would best be carried out by citizens themselves in municipalities, regions or national parliaments. The principle of subsidiarity must therefore be strengthened. The local and regional level is extremely important, and I endorse the amendments aimed at re-introducing the regional partnership. I hope we can get a specific proposal in that very area.
If we want the EU to be able to function with thirty Member States, then it must focus its power and commitment on the genuinely cross-border issues. The drive to get a little order in the EU’s duties has taken a big step forward this evening, and I would like to thank Mr Lamassoure for his excellent work."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples