Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-10-10-Speech-3-026"
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"en.20071010.16.3-026"2
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".
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, my sincere thanks to Parliament’s representatives at the Intergovernmental Conference. Our fellow Members Enrique Barón Crespo, Elmar Brok and Andrew Duff have represented the interests of the European Parliament superbly. For this I would like to express sincere thanks on behalf of our group.
We have rightly heard from our fellow Member, Mr Daul, that the Portuguese Presidency now has it in hand to bring to a close the necessary work following the abortive attempt at a European Constitution, namely submission of a reworked and revised Treaty, agreeing on the key elements of the reform imperatives among 27 countries in the EU, safeguarding the construction of a united Europe legally and politically at an Intergovernmental Conference now coming to an end, rounding things off at a summit in Lisbon and then bringing them into the intrinsically crucial phase, ratification of this revised Treaty in 27 Member States under the specific legal and constitutional conditions of each country.
I therefore specifically want to emphasise the fact that we can be optimistic about Lisbon. If we differentiate between what has been achieved at the summit here in Brussels under the German Council Presidency as a mandate for the Intergovernmental Conference, and what was worked out at the Intergovernmental Conference, we can also assume, according to the reports from our representatives, that – with few exceptions – this is almost identical. As the Social Democratic Group we say: this is how it must be! As Socialists we cannot and will not accept amendments that date back to before the mandate agreed here in Brussels – this should be clearly stated. But we assume that we have a draft on the table which corresponds to what was agreed here in June and for which we all commended Mrs Merkel.
When we send this draft on its way to Lisbon, it will be interesting. The question will then be whether this Treaty will be ratified in 27 Member States and it will then depend on the Members of this House, and we will have a fight on our hands. We will also have to fight for the construction of a united Europe to be accepted in all the Member States. I would venture the thesis that a further collapse of this revised Treaty – just as the Constitution collapsed – will be the end of the European Union in its present form. Anyone who does not want to tread the path of the anti-Europeans sitting here in this House, anyone who wants to follow the path of promoting Europe and its consolidation, is therefore called upon to fight for this Treaty. I hope, Mr Daul, that all the Members of your group will also do this. I have slight doubts about this.
I would also tell you what we must keep in mind in this House if the project collapses. What happens if the European Union does not succeed in its further attempt to secure the revised Treaty? What lies ahead for the European Union? Europeans believe we are a large continent of 500 million inhabitants in 27 Member States, a large internal market. We make up 8% of the world’s population. India has 1.1 billion inhabitants, China 1.3 billion, both these countries together representing one third of the world’s population. If we want to remain competitive in the long-term, if we want to defend what we have achieved socially in Europe, if we want to stabilise the economic base, which is the prerequisite for social justice, then we have to be able to co-exist harmoniously throughout the world. We can only hold our own throughout the world, however, if this Union is consistent – economically, socially and politically. It needs this Reform Treaty to do this! If the EU is broken down into its individual parts, if we follow the nationalists who tell the people we can achieve more on our own than together as 27 countries, then this continent will face bad times ahead!
I therefore hope that what is agreed in Lisbon survives ratification and so we will need to fight. Anyone who wants peace in Europe, anyone who wants Europe as a factor for peace in the world, anyone who wants economic growth and more jobs and a fairer distribution of wealth in the Union, must strengthen this Reform Treaty, defend it and implement it. Anyone who does not want this, anyone who focuses on renationalisation, should be told what François Mitterrand said in this House: nationalism is the opposite of European unity and nationalism in the long-run always means war. Europe, however, is a concept that grew out of the wounds of war on this continent, and therefore European unity based on a reformed Treaty is the goal of all democrats and progressive powers on this continent.
Good luck, therefore, for the Intergovernmental Conference and for the summit! But I wish you even more luck for ratification in the 27 Member States."@en1
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