Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-06-18-Speech-3-022"
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"en.20080618.2.3-022"2
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"Mr President, Mr President-in-Office, the message I am getting from the governments is that this is an Irish problem. When I talk to citizens, the message I get from them is that this is a European problem, and a conflict with Europe. The governments tell us that it is a diplomatic conflict. The citizens tell us that it is an affront to their sovereignty; they feel that they are being excluded, and they feel deeply aggrieved. The governments tell us that this 'no' vote is incomprehensible. When I listen to the citizens, they tell us that it is the Treaty and the process which are incomprehensible. The governments tell us that they have to tackle the real agenda. The citizens tell us that for years, they have been drawing attention to the real agenda, and may I say to the Commission President that they do not mean the military, police and internal security: they mean social responsibility and a European answer to globalisation. They mean more democracy and transparency.
Mr President-in-Office, the governments plan to ask the Irish Government what prompted the 'no' vote. Instead, the governments should be asking themselves this: who is really to blame? The governments ignored the writing on the wall after the 'no' vote in France and the Netherlands. Have the governments genuinely addressed the real issues? When overhauling the Treaty, did they really respond to disappointed expectations? Were the French not vocal enough in their calls for a new social order, more social responsibility and equity? Were the demands for more democracy simply not clear enough? So what did you do? You just rehashed the Treaty and created an unreadable hotch-potch of footnotes, cross-references and subtext, and you wonder why citizens are rejecting it.
There is one major risk in this affront to sovereignty. It is not only an affront to the Irish people; there is a real risk that this sense of grievance will spread and that Europeans as a whole will say: the Irish people have voted for us! The responsibility for that lies with you, the governments! The time really has come ."@en1
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