Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-03-31-Speech-3-025"
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"en.20040331.1.3-025"2
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"Mr President, 25 countries have now agreed to prepare an EU Constitution by 17 June. Compromises have already been negotiated behind the scenes, and a double majority, with population as a decisive element, has been approved as a principle. What are now being negotiated are the percentages for the number of countries and the number of citizens. There are also negotiations concerning a smaller Commission from 2014, so that not all countries will any longer have a member of the Commission. What cannot be agreed upon now can be decided later by qualified majority.
We propose instead that all countries retain one Commissioner, and that the Commissioner be elected by, and be answerable to, the national parliaments in order to uphold the democratic principle. We also propose that 75% of the countries, at the same time representing 50% of the population, shall be required as a qualified majority. We also want to see the EU slimmed down, with most of the 100 000 pages of EU legislation scrapped and the Member States legislating on all matters that do not have a cross-border dimension. Instead, the EU should focus on what the countries themselves are unable effectively to legislate on. In cases where we are ourselves unable to act, we have no democracy to lose, but we can instead gain joint influence where we should otherwise be powerless.
The minority's proposals from the EU Convention may be laughed at in this House. My experience from all the group visits and meetings is that the minority's fifteen points correspond much better to the attitude of the majority of voters. Anyone who is in doubt about this can look at the regional elections in France, where the great leader and Sun King from the EU Convention will soon be the former chairman of a council. Adieu, Giscard d'Estaing. See you at the referendums on the EU Constitution.
Finally, I should like to congratulate Bertie Ahern on the appointment of our old colleague Mr Gijs de Vries as Counter-terrorism Coordinator. He has always fought for openness and citizens’ rights. He is someone in whom I have confidence, in contrast to the head of OLAF, who steals computers and telephone and address books to reveal journalists’ sources."@en1
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