Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-10-07-Speech-3-053"
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"en.20091007.17.3-053"2
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"− Mr President, I am very grateful to be here today and to have the opportunity to address the European Parliament so soon after the positive result in the referendum in Ireland. I pay tribute to Brian Cowen and his associates; I also say to all of those who have been engaged in the campaign, whatever their party or background, who contributed to this successful outcome: thank you for all your efforts. This was a good decision for Ireland; it is a good decision for Europe.
I think that we can say that Europe has listened to the criticism; I know that the legal guarantees offered by the European Council were decisive in the referendum campaign. I can also say that the French and the Czech Presidencies made efforts that were crucial to find a way to meet the concerns of the Irish people. I think we should also say that it was very positive to have the very strong majority that was shown in the referendum, a convincing majority of 67.1% and with a high turnout, as high as 59%. So, all of this is very good news for Europe.
And, of course, I do not have to explain to this Parliament the need to put the Lisbon Treaty in place. It will allow you to be more democratic, to be more efficient, and to be more transparent. It will, in fact, increase the influence of the EU in the international arena and make us stronger in meeting global challenges, and I know that you in this Parliament will also be given a more significant role in the overall decision-making process. I welcome this development. Therefore, it is very important to put this Lisbon Treaty into force.
The European Council is united in its wish for the Treaty to enter into force by the end of this year and the end of the Swedish Presidency. With the number of countries that have ratified it – we are now at 24 with full ratification – country number 25 might actually be Poland, given the signals that we are now getting from the Polish President. I spoke on Saturday, after the referendum result from Ireland was known, with the Taoiseach Brian Cowen, who said they would need a couple of weeks to secure full parliamentary ratification, and therefore we can also say that country number 26 will finally be Ireland. That leaves us just the Czech Republic to have the full 27 ratifications. To that end, we have had a meeting with the three institutions here in Brussels today: the Presidency, the head of the Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, and the President of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek. The Czech Prime Minister, Jan Fischer, was also with us and we tried to asses this situation. You might know that 17 senators have appealed to the Constitutional Court in the Czech Republic with a complaint concerning the Lisbon Treaty, to see if it is in accordance with the Czech Constitution. Jan Fischer told us that this is an independent court which is now working quickly to take the decision whether or not to bring up this petition. We do not foresee today an exact date when they will give this decision, and we are, of course, awaiting that signal. We hope to see it in just a week or a couple of weeks. That is the message from the Czech Republic today: an independent court taking a decision in maybe a week’s time, or it may be two weeks before we know how they will proceed.
As President of the European Council, I am responsible for moving the work of the Union forward. I strongly feel that we have no time to lose. Therefore, I have decided that while awaiting the clarifications in the Czech Republic, firstly we will continue the preparations for the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty and secondly, when there is clarity on when the Lisbon Treaty will come into force, when there is clarity, I will begin consultations on the nominations of the new President of the European Council and the High Representative and Secretary-General of the Council. Preparing this will not only be a matter for the Presidency: this is a matter for three institutions at the same time. I will therefore say that it is very important for us to work closely and constructively together with the Commission and the European Parliament in this process. I will again renew my offer to this Parliament to cooperate when we are making our efforts to get the Lisbon Treaty finally in place.
Let us also remember that despite these institutional matters, this Swedish Presidency – and this autumn – is, of course, very much influenced by the need to move on climate change, the need to move on the financial crisis, the worry in Europe that we need a policy for job creation – a lot of important matters that need to be addressed. That sums up for us the need to be active, to put in place the Lisbon Treaty, as I have just said, and to stay active as a Presidency on these very important matters for our voters."@en1
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