Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-06-07-Speech-2-181"
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"en.20050607.25.2-181"2
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"Ladies and gentlemen, the report that we are discussing today addresses budgetary matters, but also – and I would like to emphasise this – political challenges. It is these challenges that I should like to focus on. I am sure that you are aware that the financial outlook for the coming years depends, among other factors, on whether the European Constitution is approved or not. The citizens of two Member States recently rejected the Constitution; other countries have postponed ratification. We should now be taking this message on board, rather than making plans for the years to come. What the citizens have said to us, loudly and clearly, is that they see the European Union completely differently to what some politicians dreamt up at the negotiating table.
From the perspective of the financial calculations, Mr Böge’s report is a sensible compromise. It clearly expresses the fact that there cannot be more Europe for less money. We must, however, respect above all the will of the citizens. It is not now a matter of what seems to us here in the Chamber to be reasonable; it is a matter of what is truly democratic. I believe that the rejections of the Constitution cannot be arrogantly ignored. I therefore consider that the greatest political challenge is for politicians to have the courage to step forward humbly before the citizens and openly admit that a general consensus on the level of political integration within the European Union simply does not exist at present. Accordingly, I ask whether we now even have the right to vote on a report that seeks to create a framework for the political and economic life of the European Union for several years to come, and my answer is a definite ‘no’."@en1
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