Mr President, almost 20 years after the European Parliament, elected by universal suffrage, produced a draft Constitution, the ‘Spinelli draft’, we are achieving a text for a Constitution for a European Union made up of 25 States and 480 million citizens. I believe we must welcome this historic success of the Convention, which has produced a democratic draft whose contents largely correspond to the hopes we had placed in this enterprise. I would first of all like to express my gratitude for the work done by the European Parliament’s Delegation led very competently by the two Members who have represented it in the Presidium: Mr Méndez de Vigo and Mr Hänsch, who have acted as a coherent team fighting from the front but also protecting their rear. I believe that this has added coherence and seriousness to our representation and has helped our political families from throughout the enlarged Union to be able to work and mature in this House – which is the home of democracy in Europe – and to be able to create a common doctrine which has been specifically reflected in the text. Without making a very detailed analysis and assessment – this is a job we will have to do during the summer and which will have to be carried out by the Committee on Constitutional Affairs – and in passing, Mr President, I would like to complain on behalf of my group because Mr Napolitano has not been given speaking time as Chairman of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs. He will speak within the speaking time allotted to the Socialist Group, but I do not believe that this is a correct way of proceeding. I would like to say on behalf of my group that we must celebrate the fact that we have a single text without options, without red cards; a text which opens doors and does not close them, and also one which is of a manageable size. I believe these are important elements on the basis of which we must work and make progress. We must defend what we have fought for tooth and nail and we must continue working; our two representatives have given a brief summary of what has been achieved. I would like to point out, in relation to the evolutionary clauses and the new date of 2009, that we must continue to work, drawing conclusions, creating doctrine and strengthening the European institutions. I would like to mention certain points which the Socialist Group sees as absolute priorities: to strengthen the social Europe and to defend Europe in terms of its economic governance, making progress in the field of taxation with regard to the internal market and majority decision-making in the field of foreign, security and defence policy; and we believe that this must also contribute to finding a better balance within the interinstitutional triangle. Our job must therefore now be to try to consolidate this Constitution as a basis for subsequent work, but we must work on the basis of what we have agreed, what has been achieved, which is an indication that we are able to act, and this is tremendously important at a time when the European Union was being portrayed as moribund and incapable of taking action. Furthermore, I believe we must welcome something which is also very positive, at a time when we have observers from the future member countries, and that is that they have participated fully in the work of the Convention before actually joining the Union. They are working shoulder to shoulder with us and playing a significant role, and this is being demonstrated in popular referendums. Over the last week we have had two significant successes in Poland and in the Czech Republic demonstrating that this is not just a market, but a shared project of coexistence, and we believe we should welcome it when so often distrust has been called for. Finally, Mr President, please allow me to comment on an important aspect, because we always talk about architecture and we must also talk about personalities, we must also support – and I would ask that this be done in Thessaloniki – the Council’s Agreement returned this week on the Statute on European Political Parties. I believe that Parliament has done significant work. We must thank the rapporteur, Mr Jo Leinen, for the great work he has done. It is clear that having protagonists who genuinely demonstrate that we are capable of organising ourselves is a fundamental element of European construction. And finally, Mr President, I would like to ask you on behalf of my group, when you go to the Thessaloniki Summit, to express the clear will of the whole House that the text which has been produced openly and democratically be respected, and also to say, on our behalf, that we want to be properly represented in the work of the Intergovernmental Conference; not just making use of previous experiences but with a representation which is in line with our participation and our dignity. (Applause)

Political group: PSE