Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-07-02-Speech-3-009"
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"en.20030702.1.3-009"2
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"Mr President, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, Mr President of the Commission, ladies and gentlemen, the President-in-Office of the Council began by talking about Italy’s historic role in European construction.
…how guarantees will be established ... even you, who are a successful businessman, could begin by making a first subscription to the bridge of Messina which would overcome the division between Scylla and Charybdis, which has been fundamental to European history over the last 3 000 years.
With regard to the issue of intergenerational solidarity and the future of the welfare state, it is true that we must talk about pensions. I do not believe that you are proposing that Social Security and pensions should become a European competence – that would go further than what we are saying – but it is important that it be linked to our demographic situation and our future, above all in relation to immigration. There was recently a debate on this issue in your government, moreover, between hardliners and advocates of a more intelligent, human policy. We believe that Thessaloniki has been a very important step.
With regard to another constitutional issue, which concerns us because it was a resolution approved by the whole of this House, including the votes from the Group of the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats: at the end of last year we expressed the need to implement the Charter of Fundamental Rights in relation to freedom of expression and, specifically, in relation to the media at European level, in order to counteract the growing disparity between the national anti-concentration rules and in order to guarantee the rights of the citizens. This is a Green Paper which was produced by the Commission ten years ago and has yet to bear fruit. We believe it is important – given the prospect of an enlarged Europe and in the interests of guaranteeing these fundamental rights – that we work on this. I would also point out, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, that this does not bear any relation to an issue we faced when you were a Member of Parliament: the issue of the waiving of immunity in relation to a case in my country. What we are proposing is the development of a constitutional right for all Europeans.
Finally, Mr President, I will refer to foreign policy. If you continue the work of the Greek Presidency with regard to transatlantic relations, we would consider that to be positive and we also believe that an important role can be played through the Quartet in the Middle East. I would ask you to act like Mrs Rice, that is, when you go to the Middle East, not to talk only to the Israelis. She has had no problem talking to everybody. Why should an important European have such a problem? I very much appreciate what you have said in relation to Latin America, which is also a transatlantic issue, and above all in relation to Mercosur.
I will end by thanking you for your generosity and by talking about Italians: when the Treaty of Rome ‘II’ is signed at the Campidoglio, I am sure that my group colleague and Mayor of Rome, Mr Veltroni, will be very happy to receive the Italian President-in-Office of the Council.
I can assure you, Mr Berlusconi, that we will not be partisan and we will judge your Presidency on the facts, on what you can do, and not just on promises.
I am going to speak to him frankly on behalf of the Group of the Party of European Socialists: we want Italy and its Presidency to present a
which succeeds, rather than a
which fails. What worries us is that, when we hear President Ciampi talk about Europe, we feel more reassured, but when we hear President Berlusconi talk about Europe we feel more concerned. Today you have taken the Ciampi line. The problem is when you tell us that the Commission must be abolished and that Russia and Israel must join the European Union tomorrow morning.
We agree that the Convention has produced a historic result. If you will allow me, Mr President, I will remind you of the first sentence of the preamble of the Constitution produced by the Convention, which was written 2 500 years ago and is still relevant – it is our fundamental creed – and it is a quotation from Thucydides: ‘Our Constitution ... is called a democracy because power is in the hands not of a minority but of the greatest number’.
This means that we are obliged to make laws for the general interest and not to resolve specific cases involving a minority. That is the cornerstone of European construction.
With regard to the Convention and the Constitution, I have taken good note of the fact that you have expressed a will to negotiate. I would like to say that we, who would improve the text of the Convention, believe that there must only be formulations of a technical nature, in other words, negotiation over outstanding problems, and that the Constitution must not be rewritten and, in particular, not be moved backwards.
You have made a proposal on the participation of Parliament. I am grateful for this, but I would like to say one thing to you: this is what we have had since the Treaty of Amsterdam, and even since the Treaty of Maastricht, that the President can attend European Councils and the conclaves, that we have representatives in the Intergovernmental Conference – we call them observers, but we want representatives. Now there is something else, however. The Convention has taken place. The doors cannot be closed. What we are also asking – and I hope that Parliament will approve this in its resolution – is that the Presidency should be obliged to provide information regularly, here and in the Committee on Constitutional Affairs, chaired by Giorgio Napolitano, and that we should be able to invite, as we do, representatives from national parliaments. Yesterday we spoke about this with President Casini and we agree, because what we cannot do is return to diplomacy behind closed doors.
You have also talked about the European economy. I was surprised that you did not refer to the Lisbon strategy, because what you have talked about is largely the implementation of the Lisbon strategy. But in relation to the so-called ‘Tremonti’ proposal, which is a resurrection of the Delors plan and the van Miert proposal, it is good to hear from conservative politicians and conservative governments that a degree of Keynesianism is acceptable, because we have been asking for this plan for ten years. Well, let us see how we can do so, how you will apply the ‘golden rule’…"@en1
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