Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-10-23-Speech-2-068"
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"en.20071023.7.2-068"2
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"Mr President, I am grateful to the Prime Minister for his statement this morning and, whilst I note the decisions of the Heads of Government, the British people and the British Conservative Party have been consistent in their concerns about the Constitution and the very similar Reform Treaty.
The British Prime Minister has said that the Reform Treaty is not the Constitution. His fellow leaders have disagreed. He told us that Britain’s so-called ‘red lines’ have been secured. Like most British people I really do not understand or believe our Prime Minister on this matter. The issue is one of trust. Our Prime Minister gave a commitment to hold a referendum – a commitment in an election manifesto two years ago. A referendum on this Treaty is, therefore, not only politically necessary but also a moral imperative.
The Irish Prime Minister said at the weekend about possible referenda: ‘Why not let your people have a say? I think it’s a bit upsetting to see so many countries running away from giving their people an opportunity’.
A few days ago, Gordon Brown said that this Treaty will mark the end of EU institutional reform for the next decade. However, over the past 15 years we have had four treaties dealing with reform, and I doubt whether the urge to have further institutional change can be resisted. The so-called ‘ratchet clause’, for example, would allow further national vetoes to be abolished.
On the other hand, the Conservative vision for Europe focuses on the three key areas of global competitiveness, global climate change and global poverty. I congratulate President Barroso in particular for his determination, in any event, to pursue those aims. However, they can be tackled with political will and do not require this Treaty. We should remind ourselves of what the Laeken Declaration said. It said the Union needs to become more democratic, more transparent and more efficient, but it called also for us to engage the citizens more and not just to communicate our decisions to them. The question today is: does the Treaty respond to Laeken? Laeken asked the right questions. Have we given the right answers?"@en1
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