Madam President, no doubt the Council would like to hear the opinion of the political Groups, which seems to me to be very healthy. Madam President, we are holding this debate at exactly the right time. The convention which is drafting the Charter on Fundamental Rights has begun its work and I believe that we are already doing so at cruise speed. We are dealing with the content involving civil and political rights, and then we will deal with citizenship rights and economic and social rights. It is therefore important for this Parliament to establish a mandate for the members of the delegation representing it and also to establish – and this seems to me to be essential – which political objectives this Parliament will pursue by means of this Charter of Fundamental Rights. The representative of the Committee on Petitions is right to point out that the citizens often ask us what this Charter of Fundamental Rights is for. Fundamental rights are recognised in our constitutions. The Member States of the European Union respect fundamental rights. There is a Rome Convention, upheld by the Court in Strasbourg, which is the ultimate guarantee in the event of a violation. So what is this Charter for? I believe that Parliament should send a very clear message: the Charter of Fundamental Rights is a supplement to these rights guaranteed in the constitutions. Being European has an added positive effect. By means of this Charter we intend to bind the European institutions to a bill of fundamental rights and to bind the Member States to those same rights in their transposition and application of Community law. This is the political message which we must send. Being European is a positive thing. It adds to what we already have as national citizens. The report which we are debating today and voting on tomorrow also seems to explain very clearly what the political objectives of this Parliament are. We do not wish the Charter to be a mere declaration. We do not believe that a declaration is sufficient. We want the Charter to be incorporated into the Treaties precisely because we want the citizens to have more rights and guarantees. Whether or not the Charter is incorporated into the Treaty clearly depends on the work which the convention is able to carry out. It will depend on whether the work is useful and can be incorporated into the Treaties. However, it seems to me essential that Parliament bears this objective in mind with regard to the drawing up of the Charter. It is also important to state, as this report does, that absolutely no harm will be done to the protection of fundamental rights as laid down in existing provisions. There will be no double use of the Convention of Strasbourg. We should make this very clear. I repeat that what we want is to provide the European citizens with a supplementary guarantee when it comes to the application of Community law. I believe that, by affirming the indivisibility of fundamental rights, as this resolution does, or affirming their innovative nature, we are taking positive steps towards an improvement in the living conditions of the European citizens. Madam President, I would like to end by whole-heartedly congratulating both the rapporteurs and the draftsmen of opinions. It is a matter of form in this Parliament to congratulate them, but I would like to do so from a political point of view and on behalf of my Group, because I believe that Messrs Duff and Voggenhuber, and all the draftsmen of opinions, have been able to provide the political response required by Parliament at the moment. I therefore hope, Madam President, that tomorrow’s vote will support the rapporteurs’ good work with a massive vote in favour of this report.

Political group: PPE-DE