Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-10-23-Speech-2-043"
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"en.20071023.7.2-043"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, let me begin by thanking Mr Sócrates and Mr Amado. They have had a difficult task, a very difficult task. On behalf of the Socialist Group in the European Parliament, I would say to them that they have completed this task most excellently. Congratulations, Prime Minister!
Europe is facing major challenges – not only from now on, but for many years already. For years now we have constantly been debating the same problems. The gap between rich and poor is getting bigger and bigger – within the European Union and throughout the world, between our continent and other continents. Social justice at home and social justice throughout the world is one of the major challenges for the EU. The states that belong to the United Nations and are island states have been crying out for help in the United Nations for years. Several of these states know that if climate change continues as it is and sea levels rise, they will be no more within the foreseeable future. There is nothing theoretical about climate change, but there is something practical that demands immediate action by the European Union.
We are facing challenges. You have rightly embraced one of these challenges in your Presidency: the challenge on the African continent. As super-rich Europeans, we cannot look on as this continent dies, either from civil wars or from Aids. The Portuguese Presidency was therefore well advised to focus on Africa. We – as Europeans, as states and as Parliament – are being asked to face up to this issue and have been asked to do so, ladies and gentlemen, not just for a few years now, but for a very long time. Since 2001, however, the European Union has primarily concerned itself not with these challenges, but with constitutional issues. This has taken far too long! It is good that this is now over, that the constitutional framework is finally in place so that we can now take on the political challenges on this basis. The great success of the past weekend is that we are now finally able to concentrate on what needs to be done politically and on what the people expect from us.
Therefore, Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, there were some encouraging signs last weekend. The summit with the social partners is a step in the right direction. Capital and labour must be able to speak to one another again on an equal footing. For us Socialists, this is one element of this new draft Constitution – it should not be called this, and I must say that it has lagged far behind the Constitution – that social justice is practised here in Europe through greater co-determination on the part of the European Parliament. Nothing can be done in terms of a qualified majority without us Socialists, without the Left in Europe. I would therefore say that this Treaty will help Europe’s legislation to become more social, based on the aims you have agreed with the social partners at this summit. With future majority decisions, this finally gives us the opportunity – in agricultural policy as well, by the way – to tackle the reforms that we have long been reminding everyone about. These reforms are also necessary because anyone who wants to appear credible at the world trade round – at the Doha Round – and in Bali will at some point have to say: yes, we need a reform of EU policy on subsidies. This, too, is becoming possible with this Treaty.
There are challenges that we must face. The President of the United States is talking about a Third World War and we are talking about whether the President of the European Parliament does or does not have voting rights! This is the kind of disproportionality that needs to be brought to an end in Europe. The draft Treaty will also be able to stop this.
I believe we have taken a great step forward with this Treaty. Europe is becoming more democratic, Europe is becoming more transparent and the institutions are becoming more effective. We in the Socialist Group in the European Parliament have to concede that we have not achieved everything we would have liked, and to those who are now screaming again that this is now in fact the Constitution – I read in some British newspapers that a few of our fellow Members are asserting that this is essentially the Constitution – I must unfortunately say that they have neither read the Constitution, nor have they read this Treaty. This Treaty lags far behind the Constitution. However, it is clearly more than Nice!
Therefore, progress is not always made in the direction we would like. Sometimes it takes more time. One thing can be said, however: what is now on the table is better suited in terms of democratic policy, social policy and in terms of the institutions to giving us the capability and making us fit to effectively tackle the worldwide social challenges that are facing us. The Socialist Group in the European Parliament is able to approve this Treaty, as are all my group’s delegations, and this was the result of our debate yesterday."@en1
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