Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-10-07-Speech-3-058"
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"en.20091007.17.3-058"2
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"Mr President, we are discussing the result of this referendum. A great deal has been said about the institutional aspects and I have nothing to add to what Prime Minister Reinfeldt said. I think it is a good thing that he is not going to act hastily but has said that we are waiting, as we are not at the finishing line yet; we still need to go through the final stages of this ratification process before we can answer institutional questions.
Like the rest of us, Mr Barroso, you were very pleased. Your joy must have been a little dampened on Sunday evening, as the 382 votes that you received included 55 votes from members of a group whose objective it is to prevent the Treaty of Lisbon entering into force. When you are rejoicing over Lisbon, you need to bear in mind that you were supported by people who want precisely the opposite of what you are striving to achieve. Think about that, and let us base your majority on a pro-European majority in this House.
When we talk about the result of this referendum, Mr President, it is, however, about something quite different. It is not about institutional games that are now to be played. It is not about how majorities in this Parliament are made up, but about something much more fundamental and that is what we need to say to the President of the Czech Republic. The 27 Member States of the European Union have a total of 500 million inhabitants. China has 1.3 billion inhabitants. India has 1.1 billion. These two countries together represent a third of the world’s population! These countries now sit round the table in the G20 talks. The largest EU Member State involved in the G20 sits there representing an economic potential of only 82 million people.
There are two options open to us. The Treaty of Lisbon is not – as Mr Klaus has claimed – about making the Union a strong force against the Member States, but about something completely different. It is about making the Union a strong global partner in order to strengthen the individual Member States. That is the explicit goal of the Treaty of Lisbon. This treaty, on the contrary, serves the interests of the small Member States of the EU in particular. A country with a population of 10 million – let us take your country for example, Mr Barroso – compared with Brazil, Portugal no longer has the position it had in the 19th century. It is clear that, in the 21st century, Brazil is the stronger country. Like all European states, Portugal needs the Union so that we can be strong together. When it comes to climate change, the financial crisis, global disease control, when it comes to combating hunger in the world, securing peace, preventing wars over resources, then Europe will only be able to endure as a unified bloc and it will founder if it splits into its individual parts.
That is why the question that we must put to President Klaus is this: in weighing up the responsibility that he is taking on, is it possible for an individual – who admittedly is making use of his constitutional right, that I cannot argue with – to be able to shoulder this responsibility alone when all of the other governments and parliaments, and now also 67% of the people of Ireland who have said ‘yes’, are of a different opinion?
We need to ask Mr Klaus a question. Is he fully aware that this continent has reached a crucial turning point, in other words, it is decision time with regard to whether unity makes us strong or whether going it alone will weaken us all. That is the crucial question.
So, yes, it was a good day for Europe, and the day on which this treaty is finally ratified will be an even better day. Mr Klaus should accept his historic responsibility and sign this treaty."@en1
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