mr president this package of reports shows that if the lisbon treaty comes into force and this is without prejudice of course to the decision of the irish people then we will have a union that offers more opportunities for participation more accountability more democracy and more checks and balances
that is the central message we can give out tonight whether it is through the leinen report showing the increased role for this elected parliament within the institutional system the brok report showing the new opportunities for national parliaments to participate the dehaene report looking at the extra accountability of the executive branches of the institutions and how we will operate a possible transitional period the guy-quint report showing that there will no longer be parts of the european budget that are ring-fenced from parliamentary control and of course the kaufmann report on the citizens initiative
my group will support all these resolutions and we are proud to do so i would just say with one particular reservation and that is on the kaufmann report which we see as a first step putting on the table a first reflection on how that might operate in the future
but we have to be careful and i agree with what the commissioner said earlier not to set up a system that is too onerous for citizens or has too many bureaucratic obstacles for exercising that right
but we have plenty of time to come back to that should the treaty indeed come into force
we are talking on the day where we have achieved the twenty-sixth parliamentary ratification
i know that the british conservatives over there are not interested in that
they are chatting away on some other matter no doubt but it is an important fact
twenty-six ratifications through parliamentary procedures twenty-six yeses to the treaty one no
i would suggest that in that situation of twenty-six yeses and one no it is not as some people have suggested undemocratic to look at that result and ask the one country that has said no whether or not it is willing to reconsider in light of the ratification of the others
it remains their choice to do so or not
but i think it is quite reasonable that they themselves in ireland have come to the conclusion that they might be willing to reconsider if certain conditions are met
and it is incumbent on us to do what we can to address the concerns that were expressed by the no vote
that has to be part and parcel of the answer and that after all is what the union has agreed to do
all the other member states because it is the member states not just the european institutions involved in this have agreed to try and address those concerns to make it possible to achieve the twenty-seventh ratification
there is a wider lesson to learn from this
our basic rule book in the european union the treaties signed and ratified by member states can only ever be modified by the unanimous agreement of each and every single one of those member states
that is a very high hurdle to reach
it shows that those that claim that we are running roughshod over democratic accountability and ignoring the views of the people have got it completely the wrong way around
it is very easy to block any step forward any reform of the european instructions
those eurosceptics over there only need one victory out of twenty-seven
the dice is loaded in their favour not in the favour of those who like mr duff would want a much more speedy integration
that is the way it is
they also quote referendums that have given a no result
i notice they only quote the referendums that have given a no result
they never manage to mention the spanish referendum the luxembourg referendum
i think if you look at the history of european integration there have been some thirty-two if i remember correctly referendums in the member states over the years with twenty-six or twenty-seven of them giving a yes result and only a handful giving a no result
but whenever there has been a no result it has been impossible to override it without coming back and addressing the concerns that were expressed and asking the country in question whether or not it wished to reconsider whether or not it wished to change its mind
i find nothing wrong in democratic terms with that with building up gradually step by step slowly by means of consensus of all the member states this union that we have worked on over half a century this union that we should be proud of with the fact that we have twenty-seven countries working together in a continent which our history shows has all too often been torn asunder by the national embers that some are seeking to revive
