Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-07-01-Speech-2-045"
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"en.20030701.1.2-045"2
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"Mr President, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, Mr President of the Commission, I should like to echo the positive words about the Greek Presidency. I should immediately like to follow this up with the comment that this is yet another example of how small countries often make better presidents than large ones, and that we should not be so quick to give large countries priority.
Greece is a case in point. You have dealt with a number of very heavy dossiers, and the finalisation of the accession dossiers on the Acropolis on 16 June gave us a stunning picture, also for those who were only able to follow the proceedings on television. I do not think we could have imagined a more beautiful spot and a more beautiful image. It was, of course, coincidental that these dossiers happened to be finalised during the Greek Presidency, but it was a very happy coincidence.
The Convention’s work has also been guided in a very positive manner. Greece assumed a hands-off approach and gave latitude to the Convention itself. I myself was – indeed, I still am – a member of that Convention, and I can vouch for the fact that the result that is now before us is mainly due to the way in which the MPs and MEPs have joined forces. The MEPs and members of the national parliaments worked together much more effectively than some government representatives.
There is, therefore, the risk that the governments are going to put a spanner in the works. An amazing amount has been achieved: values and standards have been established, the Charter has been adopted, the pillars have disappeared, decisions will be taken by qualified majority more often, democratisation has moved on by quite a long way, parliamentary control has been stepped up, transparency enhanced and the institutional structure improved, the only discordant note being that we are now, after all, getting a President, something that many did not actually want.
Unanimity in foreign policy is, in my view, a major disadvantage, and it really should not have been adopted. During the Iraq crisis, we saw what became of Europe if everything is to be decided unanimously. If any changes are yet to be made, therefore, then this aspect is a definite contender.
I also share Mr Prodi’s view that it is odd that half of the Commissioners are entitled to vote and the other half are not – this is somewhat out of order. We should, however, change as little as possible to this proposal and try to guide it through the process as well as we can. If we manage to do this during the coming six months under the Italian Presidency, then Europe will have taken another big step and we will have a bright future ahead of us with those 25 countries. You have helped to make this happen."@en1
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