Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-05-23-Speech-3-274"
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"en.20070523.20.3-274"2
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"Mr President, Prime Minister, as a resident of the Benelux countries, I have been somewhat frustrated lately. Indeed, we were used to being on the front line for the European project, but ever since the negative referendum in the Netherlands, I get the impression that the Dutch leaders, where Europe is concerned, have been suffering from cold feet to some extent.
This was evident
from the way in which you spoke about extending majority decision-making, while surely you know that this is one of the key elements in order to keep the momentum going in an enlarged Europe. I do however, appreciate the difficult position that you are in at the moment.
You, Prime Minister, probably remain convinced that the text that you approved at the IGC does indeed adequately meet the challenge we are facing, but should take the verdict of your people into consideration. I therefore value your efforts to come up with solutions and to look for a compromise, in which respect you clearly recognise that due account must be given to those who approved the text as it was. I hope that this can lead to a compromise.
I am, however, really concerned about what you said about the involvement of the national parliaments. You explicitly plead in favour of the red card, which I do not think of as the right way forward. What you are actually doing is turning the national parliaments into a new EU institution of some kind, and that is not exactly something we are waiting for. You need to convince your national parliament that their role is to monitor the ministers in relation to their role in the Council. This is the role of the national parliaments, and the national parliaments who have done this have not experienced any problems.
Another reservation I have about what you said, and to which you perhaps ought to give some thought, is that when you seek to include the criteria for enlargement in the Treaty, like the Commission, you have to bear in mind that you would then subject the enlargement to the Court’s legal control, while this is, in the final analysis, about political decision-making. I would advise you to give this some thought."@en1
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