Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-07-21-Speech-3-027"
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"en.20040721.1.3-027"2
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"Mr President, Mr Hänsch has just told us how highly the Socialists think of what the Irish Presidency did at the Intergovernmental Conference. If one compares Mr Ahern’s actions with Mr Berlusconi’s, one might well wonder why the future Convention does not make provision for the presidency of the Union to be rotated among the smaller States, since those States’ presidencies seem have been more productive than have certain Heads of State or Government whose greatness lies only in the size of their respective countries.
Yet any presidency does no more than preside; it does not decide anything. The greatness of a presidency lies in its power to propose and in its sense of compromise. The draft Constitution is far from perfect, but it is thanks to Ireland it exists at all. Having said that, I should mention the fact that although, overall, the Irish Presidency can be assessed as positive, there remain, nevertheless, considerable areas in which the picture is not so bright. My friend, Mr De Rossa, has just expressed the Socialists’ regrets about the Irish Presidency’s performance on social matters. The European Trade Union Confederation has drawn up a ‘social test’ for the actions of the Irish Presidency. Of the ten points tested, six are regarded as somewhat negative, including, in particular, the failure to take action to achieve the objectives of the Lisbon Agenda, the lack of interest in protecting public services, and certain directives of a social nature. Mr Savary will refer to other failings in the performance of the Irish Presidency, in particular the scandalous decision taken by the Council to supply the Bush administration with personal details about transatlantic passengers.
Finally, Mr President, let me finish by mentioning an event which is not directly concerned with the performance of the Irish Presidency, but which will have important consequences. I want to talk about the judgment, by the Court of Justice, on the Stability and Growth Pact. I was among those who criticised the Commission for having brought the matter before the Court, because the Stability Pact is a policy matter and is not governed by the courts. However, in that respect I have to admit that the judges at the Luxembourg Court have resisted the temptation to meddle in the Union’s economic policy. In a Solomonic judgment, the Court has reminded the Commission that the Ecofin Council does indeed have the power of assessment, but that the Ecofin Council does not necessarily have to follow the Commission’s recommendations.
At the same time, however, Ministers have been called to order for failing to observe the rules which they themselves laid down. Nevertheless, as far as the pact is concerned, the most important point in the Court’s judgment remains the confirmation of the Commission’s sole right of initiative. Thus the Council cannot amend the rules ‘without being prompted again by the Commission’. The Commission’s right of initiative is thus upheld, but all rights, President Prodi, also include obligations. The Commission now has an obligation to make proposals to turn a ‘stupid’ Stability Pact into a really intelligent pact."@en1
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