Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-12-18-Speech-2-053"
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"en.20071218.5.2-053"2
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"Mr President, I would like to join in the thanks and congratulations to the Portuguese Presidency. I have a view, albeit a prejudiced view, that the smaller the nation, the better the presidency, but we will leave that aside for one moment.
Thank you particularly for the work you did on the EU-Africa Summit, the EU-Brazil Summit, the integrated maritime policy and – above all – bringing the signing of the Lisbon Treaty to a conclusion.
There will be no Treaty until all 27 Member States have ratified the Treaty. There is a danger, in the way we speak here and in the language we use and in the tense of our verbs, that there is an assumption that this Treaty is going to be ratified by all 27 Member States.
My own Member State, Ireland, has to have a referendum, and we willingly have a referendum – even though I would be dishonest not to say that there was just a slight level of almost jealousy when I heard how easy it was for the Hungarians to ratify.
The difficulty will be with the referendum in Ireland, with the risk – as in the previous referenda – that our electorate will take out their increasing frustration with the present government by being tempted to vote against the Lisbon Treaty referendum when that is not their intention at all. It would be really to give a kick to the government, a mid-term kick to the government you know where. And I appeal to my colleagues in Fine Gael, who will be doing everything possible to make sure this government successfully achieves the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty through the referendum, to get out there and to sell the message, to engage with the people, to invest in the message in a PR machine that will ensure that we give Europe the answer that it actually deserves.
Nothing can be taken for granted. We need to remind our Irish electorate that it is only since we joined the European Union that Ireland has become truly independent, culturally and psychologically. Membership of the Union has broadened our horizons and encouraged us to look outwards.
Ireland’s success in leaving behind the oppressive legacy of colonialism and in building the new relationship with the UK, which has underpinned the Northern Ireland peace process, must be seen as a significant part of modern European history, paralleling the fundamental rapprochement between France and Germany.
I admire Ireland’s membership and contribution to the Union. I look around me at home and I see a confident, pluralistic society far removed from the introspective sectarian Ireland in which our parents and grandparents were raised. Europe has helped Ireland define our place in the wider world. We deserve to return that to Europe by ratifying the Lisbon Treaty. Take nothing for granted, colleagues, until it is done. It will not be easy."@en1
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