Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-09-15-Speech-3-179"
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"en.20040915.7.3-179"2
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"Mr President, a start may be half the battle, but it is not the be all and end all. A start was made on the Constitution by the Intergovernmental Conference, with the acceptance of the Constitutional Treaty, a conference which finished its work during the Greek Presidency in June 2003. It is a success of which we are all particularly proud. However, that is only half the story; this Constitution needs to be approved. It would, I believe, be a tragic mistake and somewhat schizophrenic on our part, to coin a phrase, if we were to consider that our worries were over and that the entire matter and the entire problem had now been shifted to the national governments because, even if this Constitution is approved by everyone, if it is approved on the basis of internal political or micro-political dialogue in each country, its approval will be a pyrrhic victory for Europe.
Given, of course, that the lion's share, as far as information is concerned, lies with the Member States, the national parliaments and the citizens, I consider that there are three basic elements of coordination which are vital to us:
First, as European and institutional bodies, we must not interfere or engage in repellent action; we need to coordinate so that the left hand knows what the right hand is doing.
Secondly, at the very least we must help to inform citizens in clear, simple words about the differences which exist between the Treaty of Nice and this new Constitution. Anyone who disagrees with this Constitution will need to explain to themselves and everyone else why and how the present treaty protects their reasons for disagreement better than our Constitution, because we shall continue to function; it will merely be with the Treaty of Nice.
Thirdly, and this is especially important, information will also need to continue after the referendums. The Constitution is alive. It does not end with its approval. On the contrary, it starts with its application. It gives our citizens rights. Rights of participation and cooperation to force us to legislate. Rights which they need to know in order to take advantage of them. We have this obligation if our Constitution is to be a constitution which promotes not only democracy, not only transparency, but also the power of the citizen in the Union we are building together."@en1
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