Madam President, Representative of the Council, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I believe that the exercise we are involved in today comes just in time and, every day, current events remind us how urgent this European Union charter is. This is the background against which we are working. A European Union charter: this clearly means that the charter is addressed to each and every one of our fellow citizens, admittedly, but also to persons resident in or visiting the Union. That is important to note. It is important at a time when the European Union is experiencing upheaval at its very centre. It is important, too, and we would like to see this mentioned in the text that we are to vote upon tomorrow, at a time when we are involved in enlarging the Union to include countries for which the respect of fundamental rights is a significant question. It is important, finally, at a time when we consider – and we should like to specify this in the text that we shall be voting upon tomorrow – that the Union has passed the stage of economic integration and has clearly undertaken a process of political and social integration. The charter must contribute to this. The resolution on which we shall be voting tomorrow is certainly not intended to give a binding mandate to our fellow Members, myself included, in the context of the convention, since we have already commenced work. It is intended, rather, to say what Parliament expects of the convention. To this end, I should like to stress two points. In the first place, what do we expect to obtain from this exercise? Frankly, ladies and gentlemen, if the objective were to assemble a convention, original in form and composition, as we have today, in order merely to come up with an announcement of a text bearing the signatures of the presidents of the three institutions, then I think we would be on the wrong track. We want more than this. It is in this spirit that we are working within the convention, both in terms of the timetable and the form. My second point is to do with its content. Our resolution does not say much with regard to content, but Parliament has already had, on at least three occasions, the opportunity to state what it expected from a charter on fundamental rights. This was not the purpose of today’s discussion, but it is worth highlighting three points. Firstly, if we have put together such a unique body only to codify the existing law to the letter, then I believe it was not worth planning this new body. Secondly, if the convention must confine itself to regurgitating all or part of the European Convention on Human Rights in order to void the question of whether or not the Union should adhere to it of all meaning, then I believe once again that we would be on the wrong track. Thirdly, it seems to me that, with regard to the content, we have here the opportunity to restate, at Union level, a number of commitments that each Member State endorses, but which we must confirm on behalf of the European Union as such, recognising a number of rights, particularly in the economic and social sector. Let me state here the extent of the difficulty of the mandate given us at Cologne, acknowledging social rights which would be nothing more than goals. But, these specifically are the issues involved in the work which will be carried out within the convention and, on behalf of my Group, I wish to state the importance we shall accord the charter’s content in terms of such questions. In this spirit, I fully support the proposal which Ieke van den Burg has just made: if the Union is questioning its adherence to the European Convention on Human Rights, then it must also question its adherence to the European Social Charter. Finally, I think that the European Parliament will be on the right track for the charter to be ready, in terms of both content and timetable, to be integrated during the French Presidency. It would enable fundamental rights to be recognised in due form, and given the place they deserve in our internal legal system, a system which today is observed with a great deal of attention by citizens within the European Union, certainly, but also by the countries who wish to join the Union.

Political group: PSE