Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-02-20-Speech-3-087"
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"en.20080220.3.3-087"2
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"Mr President, this debate has shown that, in this Parliament, the elected representatives of the peoples of our 27 countries approve this Treaty by a very large majority. Every single party that is in government in our Member States and almost every single one of the principal opposition parties in every Member State – except the British Conservatives, of course – support this Treaty.
All the main Christian Democrat parties support it. It is supported by all the Socialist parties in each of our countries. It is supported by the Liberal Democrat parties in each of our countries, the majority of the Green parties and even the Conservative parties, except, of course, the British Conservatives. Opposition to this Treaty is mainly from the far right and some on the extreme left of this House. It is, though, curious to see this new political alliance being forged by Sinn Féin and the British Conservative Party in opposing this Treaty.
Some of those have argued here today that this Treaty is being adopted without us having access to the documents – that no consolidated Treaty has been published. But, as I pointed out yesterday, several Member States have published a consolidated version of the Treaty.
Then they complain, like Mr Bonde, that this does not show the amendments to the Treaty, but the amendments have, of course, been available since December in every language in the Official Journal. Frankly, any Member of the European Parliament who says he or she has not been able to read this text is not doing the job which they have been paid to do. It is pure laziness.
Secondly, some of them have come here and said that the European Parliament should call for a referendum. I find it quite amusing that those who oppose the European Parliament having powers, that are against the European Union being able to tell Member States what to do, come here and say that we should tell sovereign Member States what their internal procedures should be to ratify an international treaty. That is hypocrisy in the extreme.
Finally, I notice that many of them were absent from the debate for long periods, because they were outside the Chamber dressed as chickens. I think that is very symbolic.
are chicken, because they chickened out of the debate here, as they are afraid of the verdict of this democratic debate, a verdict which is overwhelmingly positive about this Treaty: that it is a good Treaty that will improve and democratise our Union."@en1
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