Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-03-28-Speech-3-036"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20070328.12.3-036"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Madam President-in-Office of the Council, what your presidency is doing for us Europeans is to give us courage, in that, for the first time in a long time, we are being given the impression that Europe might actually emerge from the cul-de-sac into which the failed ratification of the Treaty has led us. We will not be required to work towards a new constitution, but the way in which the European Union is constituted must be adapted to new circumstances. That much is not a matter of doubt. That will call for courage and leadership of the kind you have already demonstrated, and you will have our continued support along the way.
It is not, however, only the Heads of State or Government whom you will have to win over to this enterprise, difficult enough though that will be. You must also rekindle the European peoples’ enthusiasm for the European Union, for the EU risks forfeiting the confidence of its peoples, and it may well be that it has already done so. The question arises as to whether the integration to which Mr Schulz paid tribute is the right formula; although I have to say that I do agree with this basic approach and believe that integration is at the heart of the European way, more integration will not win us the support of ordinary Europeans, and so I urge you, Madam Federal Chancellor, to make yourself the spokesman for those who, although convinced Europeans and in favour of the integrationist approach, are less than satisfied with the way this European Union is perceived.
The source of the disquiet, of the distance to which you yourself referred, is the excessively regulatory approach to legislation, with decisions taken here being perceived, by people at ground level, as harassment on the part of Brussels, and if you, Mr President of the Commission, want an example of this from your own area of responsibility, I recommend the study, shortly before going to bed one night, of the directive on the protection of soil; I can promise you that it will give you nightmares. While we are right to celebrate the European Union’s historic triumphs, what the dissatisfaction with it makes clear is that what Europe now needs, in general terms, is not more integration, but boundaries – both within it and between it and the outside world. Integration is indeed a good thing, but it has become unbalanced, in that we sometimes have too much of it at home, while outside – which is where the public want more of a common foreign and security policy – there is not enough of it, and, if you doubt that, you need only ask yourself whether it is not indeed the case that an appeal for the release of the brave British soldiers is much more effective when it is backed by the whole of the European Union rather than coming from only one Member State.
The European Union needs to be liberated from the encrustation with which the integrationist approach has overlaid it, and that is where your thinking about discontinuity hits the nail right on the head, with the idea that a draft act that has not been passed into law by the end of a legislative period should be required to lapse. That will make for clarity, make it clearer who is responsible for what, and will build confidence, and so, Madam Federal Chancellor, my wish for you is that you succeed in winning back the trust of the peoples of Europe, which you have the opportunity to do."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples