Madam President, President of the Council, President of the Commission, ladies and gentlemen of the House, first of all, on behalf of the Group of the , I should like to welcome in the French Presidency. By a fortunate coincidence, at this crucial point in our history one of the founding countries, the homeland of Jean Monnet, Robert Schuman and Pierre Pflimlin, is presiding over the fate of the European Union. So let me at this early stage express my best wishes for the success of the French Presidency, the President and Government of France, and let me also say that there is not just a desire for success, there is a need for success, a great success. The President presented four major working areas for the next six-month period. In the first place, we share the French Presidency’s opinion that institutional reform is a basic prerequisite for the further development of the European Union, especially for these fine plans for enlargement and the commitment we have undertaken. What we need is, if I might use the English phrase, a ‘nice treaty in Nice’, and I am counting on you. This, however, is precisely why we need to be able to include the Charter of Fundamental Rights in the Treaty, (Loud applause) because we must effectively establish our community of values and, in this respect, I should like to pay tribute to the French Presidency’s determination because it must not be forgotten that you have defended these principles in your own country and in Europe, and we consider that if we wish to solve the problems we face at the moment looking to the future – and I am thinking of the case of Austria – it is essential that we are able to include both this affirmation of a community of values as well as methods of defending these principles in the Treaty. (Applause) There is another aspect of the French President’s speech which is important. He criticised decision making behind closed doors. It would be a good thing if this were applied to the Intergovernmental Conference. I was pleased to see the French President, in his Bundestag address, defending the method of the Convention, whereby the Members of the European Parliament, the members of the national parliaments, representatives of the governments and the Commission work together. Why should we not extend this method of constitutional reform which you so ardently desire, in order to build upon what we have already, and not to build castles in the air? Well, because, if a constitution has to be drawn up, it should be drawn up on the basis of the three-way division of power between the institutions. The Commission and the parliaments and the Council and the Court of Justice must all be strengthened. (Applause) There is one fundamental question – in Santa Maria da Feira there was discussion of closer cooperation – but such closer cooperation is extremely closely related to the rule of majority decision making in Council and to codecision involving Parliament. It is all part of the same package, and it is something that requires serious work. In the second place, you also mentioned safeguarding the European social model, reiterating the conclusions of the Lisbon Summit – which we feel are a move in the right direction, the direction of defending the trio of ‘employment, social cohesion and competitivity’. I shall take the liberty, Mr President, of adding two further fundamental questions to this agenda. One of these is the future of public services, of universal European services, (Applause) and the other is the bearing they have on economic and social cohesion, in order to prevent an increase in the economic and social divide which may already exist. We think this must be included in the package. We welcome the Commission’s initiative, at the instigation of Mrs Diamantopoulou, and we hope that we shall be able to make progress here, in a manner that is most directly linked with strengthening our economic and monetary power too. Now we are in the happy situation of having twelve members within the euro zone, and soon we are set to make it fifteen, but we nonetheless have to defend and consolidate the euro. This is an absolute priority! The third point, a Europe that is closer to the citizens. In this area, regarding the environment, consumer protection and food safety, we are absolutely in agreement. A Europe closer to the citizens is precisely what we were asking of the Commission before voting on its appointment. We consider this an excellent arena for action to bring Europe closer to the citizens. There is also one sensitive subject in this area, and that is sport, which you gave as one of your priorities. I shall not confine myself to congratulating you, I should also like to say that the composition of the French national team is decidedly a pioneering way of seeing the multiracial and multicultural Europe of tomorrow, (Loud applause) and we believe that we must strive to eradicate this obscure capitalism which mars sport and to promote sport and the advancement of European youth. In conclusion, Madam President, let me turn to foreign policy. I would urge the Presidency not to make extravagant gestures so that we do not end up paying for commitments which do not match up to our ambitions. If we want to be involved in foreign policy, then we must do so in a responsible manner, keeping our promises, in such a way as to circumvent a conflict between Parliament and the Council, which would be liable to obstruct development in this area which is so vital for Europe. (Loud Applause)

Political group: PSE