Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-07-11-Speech-3-065"
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"en.20070711.5.3-065"2
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".
Mr President, I can understand that the EU leaders are enthusiastic about the idea of seeing their old Constitution revived, even if it has been deprived of some of its assets. In this regard, I agree with what Mr Voggenhuber just said. What I find more difficult to understand is why, at a time when these very leaders appear so set on fulfilling our fellow citizens’ most earnest desires, they put so much effort into preventing them from getting too close to this institutional UFO.
How else can we interpret the very specific form of democracy that characterises the process under way? There is a negotiation mandate that is totally unreadable for the uninitiated, a suspicious speeding up of the timetable and, above all, panic at the idea of any referendums. Deep down, our leaders are no doubt saying to themselves that the act of changing the words – constitution, ministers, law – and of deleting the references to the anthem and the flag would be unlikely to carry much weight faced with the people’s concerns about the current European model if, by any chance, a fundamental public debate of the level and force of that which rocked one part of the Union two years ago – and for good reason – were to resurface.
In the future treaty, liberal economic structures, whether they affect the European Central Bank, competition, free trade or the movement of capital, will remain for the most part unchanged. Not only will the Charter of Fundamental Rights, of which mention was just made, still have serious gaps, but it is required to endorse a situation that totally contradicts everything that it stands for, to endorse an exception, which, in this instance, is a British exception, or, if you prefer, the right to discrimination, the right to privileges. Finally, the new provisions on security and defence policy, which in many areas had fuelled numerous doubts and fears, have all been replicated. We need look no further for the obvious difficulties faced by our respective governments.
In Spain and in Luxembourg, they are going to explain that a new municipal referendum is unnecessary given that the substance of the already ratified treaty has been preserved in its entirety. In France and in Sweden, on the other hand, the government will suggest that a referendum is no longer relevant since the nature of the text has profoundly changed. As for Denmark and Portugal, where a citizens’ vote was planned, the cosmetic tidy-up operation performed on the 2004 treaty may well justify a cowardly renouncement of this test of truth. It is only in Ireland that the referendum is, today, as it was yesterday, crucial.
That is why, by fully respecting the differences of opinion and the specific national situations, my group is going to show the same determination as it has in the recent past and make a huge effort to provide information, to clarify the issues at stake and to compare ideas about the content of the future treaty with the same, EU-wide, democratic demand: that the people of Europe be consulted in practice. In a few days’ time, the Intergovernmental Conference will begin its work but, with the benefit of experience, I am convinced that the die has not been cast: it will be soon."@en1
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