Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-05-06-Speech-3-414"
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"en.20090506.41.3-414"2
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"Mr President, Vice-President, representatives of the Czech Presidency, ladies and gentlemen, as the previous speakers have said, this is a great moment, not because our reports are being discussed, but because today it has been established that the parliaments of 26 countries have ratified the Treaty of Lisbon, and that a referendum, which has been promised, still has to be carried out in just one country.
That the parliaments of 26 countries have ratified the Treaty of Lisbon shows that it is a parliamentary treaty. A great deal of progress has been made over the course of the unification of the European Union, but there has never been a treaty like the Treaty of Lisbon, in which the parliaments – both the European Parliament and the national parliaments – have been strengthened, democracy has been strengthened, a citizens’ initiative has been introduced and the principle of subsidiarity has been politically and legally strengthened through the strengthening of national parliaments.
It is therefore astonishing that those who set themselves up as founders of democracy oppose this treaty. They oppose the Treaty of Lisbon because they do not wish to accord the process of European unification any democratic legitimacy. European unification is abhorrent to them and they are afraid that this Europe could gain popularity through greater democracy and transparency and also enhanced decision-making abilities to face the challenges of the future. That is why they tell the lies that they tell.
May I also say at this point that I would like to thank the Czech Presidency and, in particular, Prime Minister Topolánek, who, in a situation that was personally difficult for him and for which he was not responsible, on the last day of his term of office fought to get a sufficient majority in the Czech Senate.
And it was no meagre majority; it was 54:20. That is a gigantic lead for those who said yes to the Treaty of Lisbon. I hope that, after all 26 elected assemblies have made their decision, administrative people do not hold up the democratic process by withholding their signature. I believe that they will keep the promises they have given and that this Treaty will be signed.
We are seeing in the discussions in this election campaign that the financial crisis has shown that each country that acts alone in this global order is lost. That is why it is extraordinarily important that this is recognised in Ireland and that – if I am to believe the opinion polls – the people of Ireland rethink their position so that the interests of Ireland can be defended. I am sure that, through the social clause, through the commitment to a social market economy and not to predatory capitalism, in other words through commitment in the social sense, this is also a Treaty for ordinary citizens. In this way, we can defend our interests in this world together.
In order to really exercise control over an administrative bureaucracy, national governments, the Commission or the Council apparatus here in Brussels and in Strasbourg, we must establish close cooperation between the European Parliament and national parliaments.
There are many common tasks in foreign and security policy, in legal and home affairs policy, in the control of Europol. There are many opportunities open to national parliaments through their right of veto. With the orange and yellow cards and the right of action they have possibilities in the field of subsidiarity control and, as Members of the Council, they can exercise more control over their own governments. In this way, they are doubly legitimised democratically. That is why the European Parliament and the national parliaments are not opponents in this process but allies, desirous of exercising joint democratic control over Europe, of taking it forward, and of not allowing it to degenerate into a Europe controlled by apparatchiks. The Treaty of Lisbon is therefore right and proper, and national parliaments and the European Parliament will not shirk this responsibility."@en1
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