Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-12-03-Speech-3-028"
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"en.20031203.6.3-028"2
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"Mr President, I believe it is fair to say that the meeting of the European Union Foreign Ministers in Naples last weekend was a very productive one. I say this because now the European Union governments are discussing what I would describe as the bottom-line issues relating to areas of concern with regard to the likely provisions of the new European Union Treaty.
The Italian Government needs to be commended for accelerating the pace of these negotiations, and the holding of this recent meeting in Naples was a very timely one. EU leaders are now meeting next week, on 12 December 2003, to see whether they can hammer out the final agreement which will govern the future of the European Union. I believe, in the light of the spirit of cooperation and determination that prevails at this moment, that an agreement can be reached at the forthcoming meeting of the heads of the European Union governments.
That is not to say that there are not problems or areas of dispute. I have always believed it is very important that there is equality of representation with regard to the future composition of the European Commission. Equally, there are different concerns from the perspectives of different Member State governments within the Union. It is clear that the likely direction of the decision-making process within the Parliament and within the European Council is going to be based on codecision and majority voting procedures.
I believe that the citizens of Europe are demanding to know the exact responsibilities of the new political portfolios that are being created within the European Union. They want to know exactly what the roles of a likely European Union Foreign Minister, and a possible President of the European Council, will be. It is important that clarification be given to these questions and that there is no duplication of roles. This would blur what the European Union should be doing at this time.
Furthermore, there is still a concern within Europe with regard to a few sensitive national concerns. I very strongly take the view that taxation issues should remain the preserve of the individual Member State governments. I do not believe that the European Union should be given powers to raise taxes by means of a procedure of qualified majority voting.
Equally, I believe that the qualified majority voting procedure should not apply to decisions concerning the operation of legal systems within the European Union. This would be an incorrect step because of the different criminal legal systems operating in Europe.
I have no doubt that over the next ten days there will be further intensification of dialogue between all contracting parties in an effort to broker an agreement for a new European Union Treaty. The goodwill is there to reach an agreement at the forthcoming European Council. While the Italian Government's timetable is certainly ambitious, it can be achieved under the right circumstances. I wish it every success in doing so."@en1
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