Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-09-24-Speech-3-061"
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"en.20030924.1.3-061"2
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"There have, since 1957, been dramatic developments in the ways in which independent European nation states collaborate with each other. Just as a planet’s gravitational pull captures everything that draws close to it, the courage of six states has resulted in a process of cooperation that has been spreading and becoming more profound right up to the present day. No end to this development is in sight, even though we have started to think about where Europe’s boundaries lie.
In business, there is the rule that ‘to stand still is to go backwards’, which, metaphorically speaking, is also true in politics. Thank God we did not stand still as Europe developed politically in the second half of the previous century. All our efforts were and still are rewarded by the reunification of Europe in peace and freedom. Despite many and varied economic problems, Europe still has the power of a planet to attract others, and many fine words have been said about this already today. By means of the Constitutional Treaty, Europe is meant to – indeed it has to – make a qualitative leap if it is to be able to get the better of the challenges that lie ahead. This House was right to denounce the outcomes of Nice for failing to do that, as they were entangled in national egoisms. The Convention was rightly described as ‘constitutional’, for its work shows the way ahead, over and above economic cooperation. It is on this basis that the Member States’ governments can and must show, at the Intergovernmental Conference, whether they are working with the future in mind or are trapped in the behaviour patterns of the past in clinging to national egoisms and national patronage.
The present text of the Constitutional Treaty points the way to the future. It should be changed only to improve what already exists. Many of us are concerned that what came out of Nice will not be enough to cope with the imminent enlargement, and that is why – whilst being obliged to the Presidency of the Council for what it has said – I urge the governments to do everything in their power to facilitate the new Treaty’s speedy entry into force, so that not too much time elapses between the governments giving their consent and the Treaty’s final ratification. It is now for you, Europe’s Heads of State or Government, to decide whether you want to take Europe forward or stand in its way for your own egoistic and nationalistic reasons."@en1
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