Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-07-07-Speech-1-206"
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"en.20080707.21.1-206"2
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"Mr President, this debate is about the nuts and bolts of Parliament, and it is our duty to ask if the proposals about groups are practical. It was certainly with practicalities in mind, faced with the basic requirement of 30 Members, that I submitted my amendment – I think it was my amendment, Mr Corbett – which enabled the President of Parliament, with the agreement of the Conference of Presidents, to allow a group to continue its work for a limited period if it fell below that particular threshold.
In committee it was generally agreed this was a good idea to avoid a group being held hostage by a Member threatening to leave and thereby instantly disbanding such a group. That is why I am somewhat attracted by this new compromise which has been proposed for a limit of 25 Members. It does seem to me to be a sensible idea, which would alleviate one of the difficulties I was referring to when I prepared my amendment.
We must always remember, however, that we were elected to represent the views and interests of our electorate as a whole. It is a fact that our European electoral spectrum spans an ever-wider variety of opinion, which is good for democracy. It is not just the number of Members which increases in this Parliament; it is also the diversity of views which they bring with them. If we are successfully to fulfil our parliamentary mandate, we must have the opportunity to fully mirror the views of our national electorates. A small group in the European Parliament here may well represent a large body of opinion in Member States. We need to be able to work constructively as a Parliament and also, most importantly, in line with the wishes of the people that we represent, however that is formulated in the disposition and composition of our groups.
So, whilst I welcome this possible compromise, I welcome a sensible and pragmatic approach to this matter. I hope that we do not allow ourselves to fall into the trap of assuming that fewer groups necessarily means more democracy."@en1
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