Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, I wish we did not have to have this debate today. It centres on a grave occurrence, a serious political error. I hope that in the light of what President Prodi and Commissioner Verheugen have just had to say, the record will have been put straight by the end of this debate. It was not the President, but the Commission whom we asked for a statement. But I am extremely grateful to President Prodi for the fact that he deemed the occurrence so important as to address us in person today. Commissioner Verheugen, I have read your interview several times. Before I get to the real crux of the matter, I would like to draw your attention to the following sentence, which has left me totally bewildered and dismayed. I am being completely matter-of-fact when I say this, because I believe deeply in every word that I calmly utter here, and because it reflects my convictions. Mr Verheugen said in the interview: “One of the almost tragic developments of the past few years has been that Parliament has found itself unanimous in only one respect, namely in opposing the Commission.” Mr Verheugen, what is your understanding of Parliament’s role? You would not be in office if we had not given you our blessing. (Applause) On behalf of my group, I would assert – and President Prodi is aware – that, in principle, we regard ourselves as the European Commission’s ally when it comes to safeguarding the Treaties, involving Mr Patten in external policy, and when we are having trouble getting secretariats. We are on the Commission’s side and would ask you to take note of this and not accuse us of opposing the Commission in principle, and only finding ourselves unanimous in one respect. I simply refuse to accept this. (Applause) I refuse to accept this because I want people to understand that the work we do is in support of the Commission. We have a joint task to get to grips with for Europe. Turning now to the facts of the matter. You said that anyone reading your text with impartiality could reach no other conclusion. I believe – and in fact this is a pan-European debate – that even if you take an impartial view of this text, you simply cannot help reaching the conclusions we have introduced into the public debate. Mr Verheugen, I am grateful to you for, and highly appreciative of your statement to the effect that no new conditions should be created. In so doing you have made it clear, once and for all – as the President of the Commission said – that you are no longer advocating that a referendum of the kind you have in your country, should form the basis for enlargement of the European Union. After all, quite a few people have been left wondering if there is a strategy underlying Commissioner Verheugen’s comment. In fact only today, certain other individuals – and I would not wish to make a party political issue of this – amongst whom an important character from Germany, who is close to you politically, have called for a referendum on this issue. But I am pleased that the matter has been cleared up today. (Heckling) Please do not get excited. I am delighted that we have been able to reach a consensus on this issue and discuss it, because the issue of enlargement concerns the future of the European continent in the twenty-first century. The Commission and Parliament must tread the same path if we are to approach the future with confidence. (Applause) We must now join forces and urge the national governments to make a success of Nice. We must do this together, in a spirit of good will and cooperation. What matters most – to that extent, I sympathise with some of your comments, which we fully agree with – is to win public support for the enlargement of the European Union, so that we take the people in our countries with us. As Members of the European Parliament, we are committed to this on an ongoing basis. After all, it was the people of Europe that brought about the change in, and downfall, of Communism. The reunification of Germany would not have been possible without Solidarnosc in Poland. (Applause) Let us now – and I call upon the Commission and the assembled delegates to rise to this challenge – tread the path of Europe together. Parliament is agreed that we must tread this path together. Mr Verheugen, I would urge you to take this to heart. In principle, we are on the Commission’s side when it comes to the future development of Europe, the unity of our continent, and enlargement, because the people of Central Europe want to be part of the community of values that is the European Union. It is our political and moral duty to do everything we can to make enlargement a reality as soon as we possibly can. It is in the interests of the security, peace, and freedom of our European continent. (Loud applause)

Political group: PPE-DE