Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-12-14-Speech-3-256"
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"en.20051214.17.3-256"2
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".
Given that the period of reflection will itself extend beyond the British Presidency, it somehow seems fitting that the final question that I answer in this Parliament, as the representative of the British Presidency, anticipates what will be an important subject in the months to come.
Perhaps with your indulgence, Madam President, I could also take this opportunity – given that you have intimated that this is the final question to be answered – to thank all the members of the Council secretariat for their very considerable hard work in producing the draft replies in the course of our Presidency to the questions that have been raised by Members of this Parliament. Rather like an author in the foreword to a book, I would, at this point, respectfully say that all the mistakes are entirely my own, and I am sure all the factual accuracy is reflective of the considerable expertise of the Council secretariat.
To address myself directly to the honourable Member’s question, as he is aware, Heads of State and Government agreed on 17 June that there was a need for a period of reflection to enable a broad debate to take place within each Member State. Provisions for reform within the Constitutional Treaty – and I have certainly experienced this in the course of our Presidency – may be sensible to one Member State but controversial to another. Therefore, the focus of the United Kingdom Presidency has been to engage consciously in a wider debate about the future of Europe. It was agreed to come back to the matter in the first half of 2006, in the Spring Council of the Austrian Presidency, to make an overall assessment of the national debates and agree on how to proceed at that stage."@en1
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