Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-06-24-Speech-2-044"
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"en.20080624.3.2-044"2
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"Mr President, at the end of the day, it seems to me that we are very divided. There are those who believe that we have an Irish problem – they are the majority – and there are those, including myself, who believe that we have a European problem. The worst thing is that, through institutional tinkering, those who believe that we have an Irish problem will pip us at the post, but they will not be addressing the real problem facing us, and that is our citizens’ distrust.
You can add as much institutional gloss as you want – the entire basis of trust has been gradually destroyed. We shall pay dearly for this in a year’s time, during the European elections, with the rise of popular movements and a fall in the turnout. The ball is not in Ireland’s court, the ball is in Europe’s court. We must put forward a document that lays a new foundation and we must sign a new pact of trust between the citizens and the institutions; in order to do so, whether you like it or not, we shall, one day, have to put this matter to the European people once more, and the sooner the better.
This will require a trans-European referendum on a concise, clear text, which will focus solely on the values, the responsibilities and the workings of the Union. If a double majority were achieved, of the citizens and of the Member States, we would have, after this historic vote, a genuine roadmap for all those who wish to follow it.
A utopia? Well, I defy those who believe the opposite to prove that we can build Europe without Europeans!"@en1
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