Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-10-08-Speech-3-065"
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"en.20031008.7.3-065"2
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"Mr President, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, Mr President of the Commission, ladies and gentlemen, the opening last week in Rome of the Intergovernmental Conference, which has the task of producing the definitive text of the European Constitution, was marked by the President-in-Office of the Council’s call for goodwill and by the willing optimism of several Member States including France and Germany. The Italian President-in-Office of the Council stressed that this Conference is the Conference of European will, of Europe’s will to be Europe and political will is going to be the keyword of this Intergovernmental Conference. The groundwork has been done by the European Convention, chaired by Valéry Giscard d'Estaing and it is now up to Ministers to demonstrate that they have this will with, of course, the additional possibility of improving the draft Constitution that we now have.
Some Member States of the Union are openly threatening to oppose any outcome that would call into question what they call the ‘Nice
’. I deplore this attitude, because stability must not be confused with stasis. Was it not, after all, the Laeken European Council that fervently wanted the Treaties to be revised to ensure more democracy, more simplicity and more transparency? Besides, following the unanimously acknowledged success of the Community method, so brilliantly illustrated by the European conventions on the Charter of Fundamental Rights and on the Constitution, our partners cannot act as if the Union were simply an intergovernmental organisation. We must lead the way in order to ensure that enlargement is a success.
The forthcoming European Council must also apply itself to revitalising the economy, as several speakers have said. On this subject, I am pleased at the growing awareness of the fact that the stability chapter of the European economy should not be able to relegate the chapter dealing with growth, business start-ups and employment into second place. Our citizens expect their leaders to create conditions that will enable Europe to be dynamic, prosperous and more cooperative. Only by freeing our economies of the burden of excessive taxation and excessive bureaucracy will we be able to create lasting wealth and enable the majority of society to benefit from this wealth. This once again requires the political will to undertake reforms that are far-reaching and sometimes relatively unpopular in the short term. Some countries in the Union, including France, are boldly setting about this task and I hope that these efforts are not only acknowledged but also receive encouragement from Europe.
Lastly, in the field of external relations, I wish to tell the Presidency of the Union how important we consider the Rule of Law together with protecting human dignity to be in managing the external borders of an enlarged Europe, as well as respect for the international legitimacy of the UN in combating international terrorism. Whether in the European Union or elsewhere in the world, now is the time for multilateralism and for joint action and not for going it alone."@en1
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