Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-05-23-Speech-3-238"
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"en.20070523.20.3-238"2
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"The next item is the debate on the future of Europe, in which we are joined by the Prime Minister of the Netherlands and Member of the European Council, Mr Jan Peter Balkenende, whom I welcome most warmly to this House.
Mr Balkenende, it is a great pleasure for me to be able to welcome you, the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, to the European Parliament today in order to discuss the future of the European Union.
Prime Minister, Mr Balkenende, the Kingdom of the Netherlands was not only among the founding members of the European Union, but also, in the course of the past 50 years, played a leading role on repeated occasions, on which it showed a great deal of determination, among those who themselves sought – and supported others who tried – to drive forward the history of our continent and make it an incomparable success story. Significant treaties and agreements within the European Union bear the names of cities in the Netherlands; there is the Treaty of Maastricht, whereby the European Union was founded, and the Treaty of Amsterdam, which accorded this House extensive rights of codecision.
It was, then, all the more a painful experience for us when the citizens of the Netherlands, in a referendum, rejected the draft constitution that contained such significant answers to the questions about Europe’s future. However, like my fellow Members of this Parliament, and like you, Prime Minister, I am persuaded that the citizens of the Netherlands were not, by this decision, saying ‘no’ to the European Union itself, or to its worth or to its values.
This European Parliament very much values your willingness, Prime Minister, to participate in today’s debate, above all in view of the fact that now, the cooperation of all 27 Member States is needed to put in place a renewed basis for the European Union, one that will stand the tests that the future will bring. The German Presidency of the Council, and the Federal Chancellor, Angela Merkel, in particular, is currently engaged in devoting all its energies to finding a solution on which all can agree and which will satisfy everyone, not only those countries that have not ratified the Treaty, but also those 18 Member States, and hence the majority by population of the European Union, which have already done so.
The European Parliament supports the substance of the Constitutional Treaty, and we want it to become a reality. That will involve necessary reforms and will enshrine our common values. This House will not under any circumstances be satisfied with a result that is not in the interests of the European Union and of its citizens.
We are aware, Prime Minister, that the people of the Netherlands, too, have a great interest in making the European Union fit to face the challenges of the future, and in making it possible for shared European solutions to global tasks to be found, and I am convinced that, with good will, we will be able, in the course of the negotiations over the coming weeks and months, not only to reach an accommodation with one another, but also to produce something that will make the European Union democratic, transparent, and effective in action. Prime Minister, I now ask you to take the floor and address us."@en1
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