Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-06-27-Speech-3-061"
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"en.20070627.6.3-061"2
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".
Mr President, it is an interesting state of affairs in the European Parliament when all the leaders are still here. I therefore thank you for the debate.
I would just like to deal briefly with two points. Firstly, the question of the internal market and competition, which has been a great cause for concern here. We debated in the Council whether competition is one of our objectives. I believe competition is not an end but a means. That is why we removed it from the ‘objectives’ heading, but we have made absolutely clear in the protocol on the internal market and competition that we will be inserting that this means remains intact and its importance is undiminished, and the Commission has also made quite sure of that. So nothing has changed. Employment and prosperity are our objective, but our objective is not competition as such, it is a means.
Secondly, a lot has been said about the voting system. For clarity I would like to repeat here once again: all possible forms of weighting, including root systems, are conceivable if you take them as the only form of voting. If we had been starting from scratch, we could have discussed them all. There is, however, a double majority, and this double majority brings the weighting between population and the ‘one country, one vote’ principle. Only this doubling makes the voting system acceptable, and we have probably now found a way that leads us back again to real international world problems and at the same time has a high level of fairness.
I would like to conclude with a sincere thank you. I can report from our government that we had a cabinet meeting today in which we took stock, and that all the members of the government were proud to have conducted this Presidency with enthusiasm and great commitment, and that the Social Democrat just as much as the Christian Democrat members of the government have contributed to that.
Secondly, I would like to extend my sincere thanks to the Commission, to José Manuel Barroso and to all the Commissioners. We have worked together intensively and well, we have had friendly, tough conversations, often extending into the night, but we reached agreement and I believe the Commission and Council have come out of this Presidency stronger. I have enjoyed working with you personally, José Manuel, and I have also enjoyed working with the entire Commission and all its staff. Thank you very much!
My thanks are also due to the European Parliament. It is nice to debate in this Parliament, to feel the spirit of Europe and to accomplish many difficult tasks with the wind behind you – and with a bit of idealism that is perhaps found more often here than elsewhere. Because one thing is clear: where there is no more idealism there is only nationalism and clinging to your own vested interests. That does not get us anywhere and I therefore extend my sincere thanks to the entire European Parliament and especially to those who always helped us along. I will almost miss the cooperation, but one can always come here again as a visitor. Thank you very much!"@en1
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