Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-06-22-Speech-3-035"
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"en.20050622.13.3-035"2
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"Madam President, it was Bertolt Brecht who quipped that political leaders should simply choose a different people when the people vote incorrectly. That statement by the German playwright is more topical than ever when we see the frenetic efforts that are being made – only last week at the failed summit in Brussels – to ignore the vote of the Dutch and the French people. Allow me to quote a small example from my own country to illustrate my point. My party, the
which is the largest party in Flanders, being opposed to the European superstate of which the Constitution is the groundplan, was not even allowed to take part in the radio and television debates that were organised on the subject. The conduct of the media and political elites was much like that of the pigs in George Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’; all animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.
Everyone claims that the bookkeepers’ mentality of some egos in European politics blocked an agreement on the multi-annual budget, because it involved some USD 1 000 billion for seven years while, by way of comparison, the annual budget of the US alone amounts to USD 2 500 billion. What matters is not so much whether Europe spends enough money in order to meet tomorrow’s challenges, but that it should do so by using its funds differently. Europe should not get involved in matters that would, in the final analysis, be regulated more effectively at national level. Europe should really start observing the principle of subsidiarity if it wants to count on the public’s understanding.
When I see in Flanders how Europe’s billions, via the structural funds, end up in the bottomless pits of Wallonian profiteers, I can only sympathise with such people as the Dutch Prime Minister, who was treated with such contempt by our own Foreign Affairs Minister on account of his consistent stance. At the risk of shocking some of you, it follows that I cannot get too excited about the failure of last week’s summit. Contrary to what some are trying to make out, neither the world, nor Europe, will collapse as a result of it.
One positive thing that came out of the summit was that everyone, including the most die-hard supporters of unrestrained enlargement, is now agreed that a period of reflection is what is called for before we hurtle down the path we have chosen. If the voice of the Dutch and French people calls a halt to the undemocratic process of Turkish accession, in respect of which bureaucracy is flying in the face of what Europeans want, the end of the European Constitution might well spell the beginning of a fresh and different Europe where the will of the people is taken into consideration."@en1
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