Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-07-01-Speech-2-027"
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"en.20030701.1.2-027"2
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"Mr President, the Thessaloniki Council stated in its conclusions that the draft European Constitution prepared by the Convention was a good starting point for the Intergovernmental Conference which will be opening this coming October. That is an interesting expression, because it demonstrates that even though the Convention has done a lot of work on clearing the way, there is still a long way to go before we arrive at an acceptable text. The Intergovernmental Conference, which will have more than six months ahead of it before 1 May 2004, will have to work in three directions, and I am speaking here both to the incoming Italian Presidency and to the Greek Presidency.
First of all, the proposed text does not maintain the necessary balance between, on the one hand, the mechanisms of cooperation and, on the other hand, respect for national sovereignties, which are the two pillars of the original Community method. If the truth were told, this unbalanced text is sliding towards a predominantly supranational system, a super-state which will cut Europe off from its peoples even more.
Secondly, it will be necessary to carry out a serious review of Part III, which the Convention has not even looked at yet, and which it will only be able to correct, before 15 July, on its technical aspects alone. Yet very important issues of principle are still outstanding. For example, it is impossible to leave as it is the section concerning agriculture, because in no way does it mention our current objectives, namely the preservation of our model, self-sufficiency in food, food safety and nature conservation – all objectives which can only be achieved by multi-functional, and preferably regional, agriculture.
Finally, it will be necessary to rewrite the preamble, because it contains two vital omissions. Firstly, and this is unbelievable, it does not say a single word about nations, except for a vague allusion to national histories. Yet a nation is not simply past history. It is, above all, the most important political reality experienced by our fellow-citizens and the most effective framework for modern democracy. Secondly, the preamble does not say a single word about Christianity either, and yet surely it deserves at least equal mention with humanism, not only as a historical reference point, but above all as the belief in God of the majority of Europeans. Therefore on two essential points, nation and Christianity, the current preamble refrains from mentioning what constitutes the very essence of Europe. This is inadmissible, Mr President, in a supposedly formal document."@en1
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