Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-06-08-Speech-3-030"
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"en.20050608.3.3-030"2
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"Mr President, at the time of our last session we commemorated the sixtieth anniversary of the end of the war. It is an irony of fate that, today, we are debating a Europe in crisis, through lack of support from the people for a treaty that was designed to confirm that our countries should unite, for better and for worse, a treaty signed by democratically elected Heads of State or Government, acting on the authority of the sovereign power, and by that I mean the authority of the people of our countries. Two hundred and twenty million of them have already said ‘yes’ to this Constitution, and, Mr President, might I point out that Europe is more than just France and the Netherlands, or Great Britain. There are all the other countries too.
Changing the text would be disrespectful towards almost half the population of the European Union, who have already ratified it. As far as the consultation process goes, I think it will also be up to those responsible at national level to decide what procedures to adopt. Of course, it will be up to the President-in-Office to act not only with skill and sensitivity but also with firmness.
What is needed to convince the people is action and a financial perspective that will serve to demonstrate that Europe can stimulate the economy and create employment through investments in the major infrastructure or through ‘Galileo’, which could create 100 000 new jobs and is waiting for a signal from the Council to get under way. We will need also to communicate commitment to, and enthusiasm for, the European project and for its message of solidarity and humanism.
In fact, this crisis is also a crisis for democracy. Europe can only work if its citizens believe in it. Often, delegation of power is synonymous with lack of interest, and we know only too well the dearth of information available on European policy. We need, therefore, to give more information, focussing on the most important points in our common policy, for the sake of our citizens and for a social Europe.
Mr President, the ‘no’ vote was also the rejection of a Europe that puts the laws of the market and of competitiveness first, of a liberal Europe without any concern for the workers, and I say that for the benefit of those who were in favour of a 72-hour week."@en1
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