Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-01-11-Speech-2-161"
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I should firstly very much like to thank Parliament for this constructive and largely positive debate. I am able broadly to concur with what has just been said by one of the rapporteurs concerning both the quality of this debate and the conclusions that must be drawn from it. Moreover, it was this Parliament that instigated this constitutional process. As someone pointed out this morning, it was in this House that the constitutional process began, and I should like to pay tribute, on behalf of the Presidency, to Altiero Spinelli who, with his draft European Constitution of 1984, initiated this process and set it going by introducing a first stage, known as the Single Act, negotiated moreover under the Luxembourg Presidency.
I should also like to say to those who have attacked and criticised this draft Constitution that, in a democratic debate, we obviously respect their position. It is not, however, with nineteenth century discourses that a vision is offered to the peoples, European and others, of today’s twenty-first century world. To turn in upon ourselves and return to outmoded concepts of sovereignty are inadequate responses in a globalised world. They offer no solution at all in terms of prosperity, democracy and peace, neither to Europeans nor to others.
I should also like to say to those who draw a subtle distinction between a pro-European ‘no’ and an anti-European ‘no’ that there is only a ‘no’ pure and simple, since a rejection of the Constitution is simply a defeat for Europe – a defeat for a stronger, more open, more transparent and more democratic Europe with perspectives to offer both within and beyond its own borders. I therefore believe in the need not to become entangled in subtleties of this kind. Admittedly, not everything is perfect in this Constitution, as the rapporteur said. We should all have liked to have seen improvements regarding this or that point. Is not, however, imperfection in a sense the very essence of democracy, since democracy thrives on compromise; and must we not therefore be capable now of accepting a compromise that represents progress in order to make further progress in the future?
As several speakers have said, the Constitution provides a sound basis for our shared values. It supplies a democratic framework enabling the European Union to take more effective action where action is necessary, account having been taken of the principle of subsidiarity. As has been said, the EU’s motto, ‘United in diversity’ characterises the essence of this Europe. A balance between large and small Member States, equality between citizens and the respect for national identities mentioned by several speakers are the very essence of our EU, reflected very well in this constitutional document.
Advances have been made. They are perhaps insufficient. We should have liked to have gone further in the Justice and Home Affairs or external policy spheres, but I believe that the draft Constitution is an extremely important first stage. Nor should revisions be considered just at this time. Admittedly, every constitution needs to provide for revision mechanisms, as this one does; in fact, it provides for various types of mechanism. Improvements will come as the years go by, on condition that this Constitution is adopted and that we are capable of applying it and using it to construct a genuine European democracy.
This document has been prepared with the broad participation not only of MEPs and of parliamentarians and other representatives from the Member States but also of representatives of civil society. There has been a debate, albeit an inadequate one, in civil society. This debate must be encouraged and supported, particularly through the ratification procedures that, as has been emphasised, have already been completed in two countries and that are to begin in other countries too. In this respect, Article 1.47, relating to participatory democracy, is an innovation, so much so that it is scarcely referred to in our national Constitutions. It needs to be brought alive and given practical content. The debate on the adoption of the Constitution has therefore begun, and it must be extended. Citizens must be fully involved in it, whether or not there are referendums.
I entirely agree with what the Vice-President of the Commission said on the subject of communication, explanation and the efforts that must be made in order to make Europe better understood. The Presidency concurs with this assertion. I emphasise that this work must firstly be done in the Member States, for it is there that the people are building Europe. It requires everyone’s involvement: firstly, that of governments and parliamentarians but also, I repeat, that of the representatives of civil society. In the course of the next few months, the Presidency will contribute everywhere it can, and everywhere it must, to this process and will encourage this debate."@en1
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