Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-06-15-Speech-4-019"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20000615.2.4-019"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Madam President, thank you giving me this opportunity to speak on the oral questions tabled by the Committee on Constitutional Affairs.
The presidency has already drawn up and submitted the report on the Intergovernmental Conference. We hope that, when it presents this report at the Feira Council, it will take into account the questions tabled by the Committee on Constitutional Affairs and, of course, the opinions which will be expressed this morning by the representatives of the political groups.
The main point raised by the questions of the Committee of which I am Chairman is that we should not just restrict ourselves to recording the agreements and disagreements expressed around the Intergovernmental Conference table, but familiarise ourselves with the extent of the challenges and risks facing the Conference. The future of the development of Europe and the validity and sustainability of the institutions of the Union is at stake, with the now sure and fast-approaching prospect of enlargement to include a further 12 countries, and our relations with the citizens and their approval and support are also at risk.
In our questions, we referred to Mr Fischer’s speech. His speech and others which preceded or followed it – and, of the most recent, I would cite Wolfgang Schäuble’s extremely dramatic speech – should have contributed to impressing upon everybody the current responsibility of the institutions and, in particular, the governments of the 15 Member States to bring the Intergovernmental Conference to a conclusion.
Clearly, all the questions regarding the future of the Union cannot be resolved here, of that we are aware, but in Nice we must create the institutional conditions necessary for a new stage in the life of the Union.
In the oral question to the Commission, we requested clarification regarding its undertaking to reorganise the Treaties and provide a fresh perspective on the problems of governance, points on which the Commission had already made its opinion clear. In our oral question to the Council, we requested clarification of the issue of the Charter of Fundamental Rights and its incorporation into the Treaties.
In conclusion, I would add that it is important to include the topic of closer cooperation on the agenda of the Intergovernmental Conference – and we greatly appreciate the efforts of the Portuguese Presidency in this area – but, in our opinion, the agenda cannot be extended to include this subject alone without serious consideration of all the other points put forward by Parliament in the resolution of 13 April. This is cause for serious concern, particularly for the Committee on Constitutional Affairs, and we are also very concerned by the serious difficulties encountered during these four months by the Portuguese Presidency in its endeavour to define satisfactory solutions for the three issues left unresolved after Amsterdam, particularly the issue of qualified majority voting. We await the responses with confidence."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples