Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-05-22-Speech-2-187"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20070522.23.2-187"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"It is with great pleasure that I welcome the Prime Minister of the Italian Republic, Romano Prodi, to the European Parliament today to discuss with us the future of Europe.
Italy, one of the founding Member States, has always been in the forefront in guiding the process of European integration, and Italy is also playing a decisive role at this moment, when we are seeking a solution to the stalemate reached in the process of European integration – a solution that everyone can accept.
In particular, I should like to thank the President of the Italian Republic, Giorgio Napolitano, for the fruitful collaboration that we have established in order to make a success of revising the Treaties. The President of Parliament knows that when he speaks he has not only the support of Parliament, but also that of Italy, and that gives him greater strength.
Prime Minister, my dear Mr Prodi, in Rome, your country’s capital city, there took place in March of this year a series of celebrations in honour of the fiftieth anniversary of the Treaties of Rome, when we were able to rejoice in looking back on 50 years of stability, prosperity and progress that our citizens have enjoyed. Now, though, is also the time to look forward into the future together. Today, the European Union faces great challenges and must, in order to master them, summon up the will to take the necessary steps and implement reforms that will guide us along the way to a secure future.
You, Mr Prodi, in your time as President of the Commission, played a part in shaping the history of the European Union at an important juncture in time. The Commission under your chairmanship, represented in the Convention by Commissioners Vittorino and Barnier, played an active part in the work on the future of the European Union and watched over the birth of the constitutional treaty right up to the Intergovernmental Conference. The German Presidency of the Council is currently working hard to find a solution satisfactory not only to all those countries that rejected the Treaty, but also to the eighteen Member States, constituting the majority by population of the European Union, that have already ratified it. As this process moves forward, the European Parliament unreservedly endorses the substance of the constitutional treaty, not least because it represents a compromise achieved after lengthy negotiations.
We realise, though, that finding a solution will call for hard work on the part of all of us, and so we strongly support the efforts on the part of the German Presidency of the Council, especially those undertaken by the Federal Chancellor, Angela Merkel, towards a renewed consensus among all 27 Member States. Were our response, however, to end up making the European Union less democratic, to limit its ability to take decisions, and to make it less transparent, that would be to misinterpret what those citizens who, in the referendums in France and the Netherlands, expressed their misgivings, actually wanted, and so this House will not be satisfied with a result that is not in the interests of the European Union and of its citizens. I am persuaded, Prime Minister, that, with goodwill, it is possible not only to draw closer to one another, but also to achieve a result.
Prime Minister, the floor is yours."@en1
|
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples