Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-01-11-Speech-2-129"
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"en.20050111.10.2-129"2
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"Mr President, the decisions made by the Heads of State or Government at the Laeken Summit have proved to be of still greater significance than anyone had foreseen at that time. The whole of today’s debate has shown this quite clearly. What was it that drove the Heads of State or Government at the Laeken Summit? It was, in reality, two things. Firstly, they wanted an EU that functioned more efficiently and, secondly, they wanted an EU that could ensure that we too could operate once enlargement had become a reality. Whenever we have altered the methods of European cooperation, this has normally happened as a sealed-off process behind closed doors, following which the population of Europe has woken up one morning to find that leading politicians have once more changed the conditions of cooperation. That was not, however, the way in which matters proceeded this time. A Convention was set up, in which I myself had the pleasure of participating. I think the Convention did some exciting work, but it also set a new objective for how we are to effect changes in Europe in the future. In future, changes are to be made as part of an open process.
We are now, therefore, presented with a new draft Constitutional Treaty which we need to discuss with the people. That being said, the following are crucial points I should like to emphasise. Firstly, an integral feature of the new Constitutional Treaty is that it provides us with values concerning not merely democracy and human rights, but also the environment and social responsibility. Secondly, the new Constitutional Treaty provides us with an assurance that the principles of openness and democracy, which a modern-day form of cooperation can be expected to respect, are also applied in European cooperation. As a Member of the Council of Ministers, I have often wondered at the fact that the population of Europe was not to know how I voted as a minister when we reached the point of taking decisions. Now, we are acquiring a modern, and open, Constitutional Treaty. Finally, we are ensuring that, via the European Parliament, the elected representatives of the people are given greater influence. All in all, it is a good product that we have debated today and that we are to recommend to the population of Europe."@en1
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