Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-03-26-Speech-3-018"
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"en.20080326.4.3-018"2
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"Mr President, the Presidency conclusions from the European Council contain all the usual clichés about social dimensions and SMEs and totally fail to address the main problems of European economies, which are that Europe is over-taxed and over-regulated and therefore unable to face the challenges of global competitiveness. May I say that the report was also remarkable for what it omitted. We hear a lot about the Lisbon Process, but very little indeed about the Lisbon Treaty, which, as we all know, is in effect the failed Constitution.
Despite all the promises that were made to European citizens, we have decided to ratify this Treaty in most Member States without referendums. We have made that decision because we know that the people would withhold their consent. In my region a recent postal ballot showed that nearly 90% of the people opposed the Treaty. This is a defiance of democracy.
Later this afternoon we shall be debating the issue of Tibet but, before we criticise too seriously, perhaps we should look very carefully at our own record of democratic accountability. In the mean time, we should indeed be looking at the Tibet issue and condemning China for its outrageous behaviour and suppression of rights. I think the time has come when we should seriously consider whether free nations can attend the celebrations in Beijing for the Olympics later this year."@en1
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