Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-07-21-Speech-3-137"
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"en.20040721.6.3-137"2
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"Mr President, I think that the proposed President of the Commission is very much aware that the next Commission faces major challenges, not the least of which is enlargement by the addition of ten new countries and the need to integrate them into the EU. There are those who fear that this might lead to it being diluted. That really does not have to be the case; the Constitution, as worked out by us in the Convention, aims to avoid that very thing, for example by reinforcing the Community method. It is above all the Commission that has to prove the value of the Constitution we await, for it plays a quite central role in it. It is the guardian of the Treaties; it has to defend Europe’s general interest. I myself have always said in the Convention, and everyone has heard me say it, that the Commission, in its present form, is too large to be able to function in a truly collegial way. On the other hand, I believe that, if the Commission really does want to function with 25 members, it can do so only with a strong Presidency that uses all the prerogatives given to it by the Treaty. Although I was glad to hear that you plan to do this in the composition of the Commission from the word go, I do think that the Council will exercise overall control over this and that Parliament, too, the authority of which you emphasised from the word go, will defend the independence of the Commission and the full authority of its President.
You should also stress this in relation to the financial package. I do indeed think that, in wanting to make enlargement real, we must play up solidarity between the EU’s countries and within the EU for all it is worth. This cannot be done if we want to remain within too tight-fisted a framework; for example, the 1% limit is an impossible framework within which to really realise enlargement in the form of integration. Take it from me, Mr President: I see the adoption of the Constitution as one of the priorities for the years ahead, one that we have to work on together. It also strikes me as important that the Commission, the new Commission, should, for a period, anticipate this constitution and the way in which transition to it may be simplified. In this, I am thinking primarily in terms of justice, internal security, and also of foreign policy, where we must indeed speak with one voice and to which the appointment of the Foreign Minister must contribute. I think it will be a help to you that it is now certain that this will be Javier Solana, and it seems to me important that there should be very good cooperation from the very outset."@en1
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