Madam President, Mr President of the European Council, Mr President of the Commission, ladies and gentlemen, the Group of the European People’s Party and greatly appreciates the fact that you, President Chirac, have spoken here today, at the start of the French Presidency. After all, we do not take it for granted that the President of the European Council will appear before us at the start of the Presidency. We believe it speaks of your highly personal commitment to the unification of Europe. We are also grateful for the fact that the French constitution provides for the President of the Republic of France to be responsible for European policy and we know that with you, it is in good hands. We have faith in you. We wish you every success for the Presidency. We wish you success on a personal level and we know that if you are successful, then this will be to everyone’s gain and European unification will benefit. You have made eloquent speeches before the German Bundestag and before this House, thereby opening the debate on Europe’s future. The debates on Europe’s future, as well as those on the Intergovernmental Conference, go together. We must ask ourselves what kind of Europe we want and how we want to achieve it. I am grateful to you for bringing Pierre Pflimlin and Robert Schuman to mind. We are proud that both men were . Last Friday, we paid our last respects to Pierre Pflimlin in the cathedral here in Strasbourg. Mr Poncelet, the Chairman of the Senate, read out a message on your behalf. All those present, including our President and others, were deeply moved. The European flag stood next to Pierre Pflimlin’s coffin, and at the end of the service, which was not a mournful service but one of hope and confidence, the European anthem was played and sung by a choir. If this had been possible 100 years ago – as early as 1900 – what suffering and misery our European continent would have been spared! (Applause) That is why European unification policy is, in essence, a policy of peace. We Members of the European People’s Party and want to use our large majority – naturally some would beg to differ – to achieve a fully integrated Europe. We want strong European institutions and a strong European Parliament that stands shoulder to shoulder with the Council of Ministers in all matters of European legislation. We want to achieve this under your Presidency and with your support, Mr President. You were a Member of the European Parliament yourself after the first European elections. We remember this well, we were colleagues at the time, if I might be so bold. We then went our separate ways, but we still regard you as a former Member of the European Parliament, as an ally, and would therefore hope to have the same rights as the Council of Ministers in all matters of legislation. (Applause) Furthermore, we want a strong Commission. The Commission has certainly proved itself as the Guardian of the Treaties over the last few months, and I am very grateful to you for this Mr Prodi, in your capacity as President of the Commission. We also want the European Commission to be the European executive. I am grateful that we are completely in step with the Commission – also with the outstanding French Member who has responsibility for such issues, namely Michel Barnier – on this institutional issue. Mr President of the European Council, I was pleased to hear you say that the days when decisions were taken behind closed doors are over, and that these decisions must be transparent. I have the feeling that there is one European institution whose decisions could be a fraction more transparent, and that is the Council of Ministers, and I would suggest that we should also give thought some time to improving transparency here. (Applause) Then there is the European Court of Justice. We need to strengthen it so that it has a voice, because the European Union’s greatest achievement is that these days, we deal with the inevitable conflicts and differences of interests by means of the law. The European Union is a Community of law and that is our greatest asset. Indeed that is why we must equip the European Court of Justice with the necessary tools. In your Berlin speech, you spoke of the great project of a constitution. The vast majority of our group responded warmly to this. We will have to answer the following questions: what do our nation states do?, what do our regions do?, what do the local regional administrative bodies do? All this within the context of subsidiarity, as you said. But it is vital for us to have a single institutional framework within the European Union, and to avoid the development of parallel structures. Not only would the citizens fail to understand it if there were, there would be no real legal basis either. Which is why we are far from receptive to the idea of creating a succession of new secretariats, for this is something the European Union must do, through its strong institutions and on the basis of European law. (Applause) Mr President, the most important thing of course, is for majority voting in the Council of Ministers to become the fundamental method of decision making. It is not enough just to extend majority voting. Majority voting must become the fundamental method of decision making in the Council of Ministers. As far as the Commission is concerned – and this is directed at our highly esteemed colleague Mr Jacques Santer – Luxembourg will never be without a Member in the Commission and if each Member State is to be represented in the Commission, then I would imagine that the smaller countries too would consent to a new weighting of votes in the Council of Ministers. I also have an observation to make about the tasks performed by the national parliaments and the European Parliament. The European Parliament is responsible, together with the Council of Ministers, for legislation, and I have no time at all for the idea put forward by the German Foreign Minister – who has otherwise put forward some sound proposals – that only national delegates should belong to the European Parliament. That is an antiquated way of looking at things and we will oppose any ideas of that ilk in no uncertain terms! (Applause) It is the task of the national parliaments to make a better job of supervising the activities of their own governments as Members of the Council of Ministers, and I believe the European Parliament and national parliaments should join forces to this end. We have great confidence in the French Presidency, President Chirac, and the same goes for you personally. We congratulate you on winning the Euro 2000 football tournament. It bodes well for your presidency. I hope Europe proves to be as successful as the French national team at Euro 2000! I wish you every success. If you are successful then it will be to the advantage of us all. (Applause)

Political group: PPE-DE