Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-06-18-Speech-3-019"
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"en.20080618.2.3-019"2
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"Mr President, the EU as we know is based upon four freedoms: freedom of movement of people, goods, capital and services. The first of those freedoms is about people. When Jean Monnet shared his vision of Europe all those years ago, he said – if colleagues will forgive my mangled French –‘Nous ne coalisons pas des États, nous unissons des hommes’.
The EU is supposed to be about people, not about politicians so, not only does it need to be driven by the people, the people need to see and believe that it is driven by the people. Last Thursday we heard the people speak and their verdict was clear; the answer was a simple ‘no’.
I recall the background to the first Constitution Treaty. There was recognition that the EU was becoming more remote from the people and that there was a need to do something about it. The declared solution was to prepare a Treaty that would make the EU more simple, more transparent, more close to the people. But, by the time politicians had finished with it, they had produced a Treaty which was more complicated, more opaque and even further away from the people. Certainly, that is what the people believe still about this latest Treaty.
Our response cannot be to carry on as if nothing has happened. If the people perceive that the EU is moving further away from them, then for the politicians to carry on regardless will simply make this problem worse. Our problem must not be to discuss the speed at which the EU should now move; it should be to discuss its direction. Listen to the people and they will tell you.
If the ratification process continues, it will show that EU leaders have learnt nothing and that politicians still believe they know best and that it is the people who are wrong.
By definition, the people are always right. It is called democracy. We want an EU which is people-centred and which delivers that democracy. So we must not ignore the Irish vote; we should build upon it. The ratification process should stop. The listening to the people should begin.
To conclude: Martin Schulz said in his very powerful and elegant speech that there is a crisis of confidence. I agree with him. It is the people who have lost confidence with the politicians. It is an opportunity for us to recognise this, to show that we have listened, and to regain and rebuild their trust. It is not good enough for all of us just to become great speakers; we have to show we can be great listeners too."@en1
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