Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-03-10-Speech-3-029"
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"en.20040310.1.3-029"2
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"Mr President, the unified Europe, of 25, 27 or 30 States will not be capable of functioning with an institutional system created for a Union of six or 15 Member States. By failing to adopt the Constitutional Treaty, at best we run the risk of a restrained, weak Europe, unable to act in political terms and to be a protagonist on the international stage, and at worst, the political collapse of the Union, that is, a dangerous step backwards with regard to the significant progress made in recent years. This is why I am convinced that the Irish Government’s action, unobtrusive but effective, should be supported. We certainly need to be quick, and sign the Treaty before the European Parliament elections, but we absolutely must do things properly too, as Mr Giscard d'Estaing said yesterday to the Committee on Constitutional Affairs. In short, we cannot accept watered-down compromises which thwart the precious work of the Convention.
It is right to resume the process on the basis of the achievements of the Italian Presidency, which in any case managed to obtain the consensus of all the countries involved on 90% of the proposed text. Now we need to make an additional effort to rise above the obstacles which concern, above all, qualified majority voting. The question is, however, not just formal or technical: the real problem we need to overcome is selfishness in some quarters, which in any case must be addressed. We need to discuss this, but if we want Europe to be strong politically and to be a leader in the peace initiative, this selfishness must be overcome.
One final remark, Mr President—in-Office of the Council: we should not forget to include a clear reference to Europe’s Judeo-Christian roots in the preamble. We cannot conceive of constructing a large house for 500 million citizens by forgetting the foundations on which our common home must rest."@en1
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