Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-01-28-Speech-3-012"
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"en.20040128.3.3-012"2
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".
Mr President, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, ladies and gentlemen, I recall quite a well-known proverb which says something like ‘Procrastination Road leads straight to Never-Never Land’. You, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, were there when, a few weeks ago, the European Council in Brussels decided to take ‘Procrastination Road’ towards a European constitution. At the moment, in line with the thinking in Brussels, many of us have concluded that this ‘procrastinating’ timescale was preferable to reaching a bad agreement immediately, which would have undermined the work of the Convention.
I would like to say, however, on behalf of the Commission and in particular on behalf of my fellow-Commissioner Mr Vitorino, that we will not resign ourselves to ‘Procrastination Road’ leading to ‘Never-Never Land’. The debate today, which this House wanted, is an opportunity for you to join with us in relaunching the constitutional process, and to preserve the European spirit that we have built up over eighteen months in the Convention. In order to achieve this, all our good will needs to be united: that of presidencies and Member States of the Council, that of Parliament, that of the Commission and of national elected representatives, with the support of the regions and organised civil society. In order to remobilise public opinion in general, we all need to work together to give this process hope again.
The Commission’s contribution to this urgent task will be based on three convictions. The first is that we want a general agreement. A general agreement is not an agreement bit by bit or piece by piece, but an overall agreement, in which everyone can see a balance based on a text of which everyone is aware. This is why the Commission does not think that anything has been gained from the discussions in Brussels, as Mr Roche said earlier – particularly when the result would have been nothing more than a step backwards. Moreover, although there are tendencies that it is helpful to take into account when continuing a task that has been interrupted, these must be confronted in open, transparent debate and by the current situation. Naturally, we acknowledge the very useful work done under the impetus of the Italian Presidency, which was the subject of the preparatory document for the ministerial meeting in Naples.
The second conviction is that we want an agreement solely based on the draft constitution drawn up by the Convention. This is the only thing that should be taken as established because at best, we do not think that anything better or greater can ever be done than this collective, democratic effort, which took eighteen months. You are of course aware of our institution’s position regarding this result. We think that on a few points it could be clarified, adjusted and improved regarding the composition and operation of the Commission, in order to broaden the scope of qualified majority voting and of course to make the procedures for revising the Treaties more flexible. However, like you, we wish to preserve its general balance, in particular with regard to finance and budgets.
The third conviction is that we want an agreement as soon as possible. The Irish Presidency has, in a sense, started on what it has to do. It has restarted the work of listening and working between those involved in the Intergovernmental Conference. The Commission supports – and will continue to fully support – the efforts and the method that you, Mr President-in-Office, have chosen, and these efforts are essential.
It will be no easier to reach an agreement in November than in April or May 2004; in fact, I think that it will be much more difficult. If we allow the symbolic deadline of 1 May or 9 May, or the politically more significant one that is primarily your own, 13 June to pass by, the draft constitution will not be very far from what I called at the beginning of my speech ‘Never-Never Land’. In other words, the Commission supports all efforts, wherever they come from, to preserve this constitutional process.
As you said, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, the next meeting will be that of the European Council in March, where the Presidency will evaluate the results of its bilateral consultations and where we will all be able to verify the state of mind of the Heads of Government. We will see whether that state of mind is, as we hope, different in March to what it was in December in Brussels. This is why, Mr President, the draft resolution prepared by this House has the Commission’s total approval and support."@en1
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