Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-03-31-Speech-3-033"
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"en.20040331.1.3-033"2
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"Mr President, I want to associate my party and our 37 members here in the European Parliament with the words of the Council communiqué expressing sympathy and solidarity with the victims of the terrorist attacks in Madrid, with their families and with the Spanish people.
On Lisbon, I welcome many of the points in the Council statement: the need for substantial structural reform, the completion of the internal market, better regulation and sharing of best practice. However, current European economies remain so restrictive and inflexible that progress will be hard to achieve. There remains, I must say, a deafening silence on our own inability to reduce the tide of regulation, which gravely damages our competitiveness and destroys jobs. Good intentions, sadly, are no substitute for practical measures.
On the Constitution, Mr Watson and Mr Duff's party leader in the UK has joined my party in calling for a UK referendum on a Constitution. On Monday in the House of Commons he argued that a Constitution was needed in order to define and make clear the limits of EU power. The question, he said, is: does this Constitution have constitutional implications? The answer he gave was an unequivocal 'yes'.
You have argued, Taoiseach, that Member State governments must show flexibility and compromise on all sides – I noted your words. However, in that very same debate Mr Blair said that the issues of tax, social security, the UK abatement, foreign policy, defence, and criminal justice are all parts of our nationhood, and we will be insisting upon them. Therefore there are two further questions. Firstly, on asylum and immigration in that debate, Mr Blair assured the people of Britain that it was absolute rubbish to suggest that the EU would have any role in determining any policy decisions or laws in this area. Secondly, on the Charter of Fundamental Rights, he assured the British people that the European Court of Justice would have no jurisdiction whatsoever to enforce this Charter or the rights that were expressed within it. I think it is a rather different legal situation and would be grateful for your view.
It is hardly surprising, when our Prime Minister denies that a Constitution for the EU has any constitutional implications, that people find it rather difficult to trust him. That is why my party says that we should trust the people and have a referendum."@en1
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