Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-10-10-Speech-3-053"
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"en.20071010.16.3-053"2
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"Mr President, may I congratulate the Portuguese Presidency on the progress they have made towards securing consensus. But, of course, we have heard from many colleagues today that there is considerable disappointment in this Parliament. There are many who are disappointed at the loss of the idea of a constitution that would have replaced the current treaties and refounded our Union on a new legal base.
There are others who are disappointed at the numerous changes that have been secured and the special provisions and derogations for certain Member States. Some of these changes are, of course, unfortunate. But they are the price that has to be paid to secure agreement of all 27 countries capable of being ratified by all 27 countries.
That is the situation that we are faced with. There is no way around the fact that this Treaty has to be acceptable to all Member States and ratified by all Member States. Colleagues should not lose sight of the overall picture. This Treaty, even in this form, contains many vital reforms. We need those reforms; the Union needs those reforms. Anyone who wants a well-functioning and democratically accountable Union should support these reforms.
The alternative to the reformed Treaty is more of the same, but with years more wrangling on the institutions and the mechanics of the European Union. I would rather secure the reformed Treaty and then move on with a greater capacity for the Union to address the real issues that citizens are interested in: climate change; the performance of our economy; overseas development aid; the environment – all those things for which we need the Union, because alone and separately, we are not effective, but together we can do more.
Let us move on and get these institutional issues settled once and for all."@en1
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