Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-05-16-Speech-2-021"
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"en.20060516.4.2-021"2
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"The period of reflection is coming to an end, but it does not feel as if very much thinking has been done around Europe. The lively debate that was to be launched in all the Member States and that all the prime ministers promised at their summit on 18 June of last year has mainly been conspicuous by its absence. The Presidency clearly does not think it worth taking part in this debate, either.
This is not because people do not want to talk about Europe. You know, as I do and as do all of us, that people want to debate Europe. In schools, at workplaces and in debates, people everywhere are committed to discussing the issue and have views and ideas about what our European cooperation should consist in, about how it can be changed and improved and about what it should not include. What is missing is leadership. European leaders are too absorbed in their internal problems to be able to raise their sights to European level. Now it is time, however, to pull ourselves together and show the required leadership. If the prime ministers and foreign ministers do not wish to show leadership, then we ourselves must do so.
A certain amount needs, of course, to be done in the institutional sphere. A number of your proposals are extremely constructive. I believe that, if more transparency is introduced in the Council and greater scrutiny exercised and if the way in which subsidiarity is applied begins to be monitored – all things that can happen without a change to the Treaty – then that would be a step forward. We have high expectations of the Finnish Presidency. On this issue, the light appears to come from the east.
We do, of course, need a Constitution in the sense of a set of regulations providing legitimacy. I too believe that, in the end, there will be a revised Constitution different from that which we have at present, but it should ideally be founded on the same basic ideas. We need to be proactive and committed in foreign policy and the fight against crime and to stand up for enlargement. I hope that we can produce practical proposals within the very near future. We all know that the period of reflection will be extended. We must show that the EU is needed for the sake of jobs and the economy and in order to bring about continued internal market reforms. We must show that the EU is needed in the world and we must point out the advantages of enlargement.
Among the matters debated a lot in Europe and featuring among the top subjects on the Commission’s web site are institutional issues and the issue of Parliament’s seat. A huge number of people throughout Europe find it bizarre that the European Parliament meets in two locations. It costs a lot of money for it to do so and gives Parliament an air of the ridiculous. I do hope that this citizen initiative will soon land on Mrs Wallström’s desk with a million signatures."@en1
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