Mr President, the Convention came to an end last Friday with a glass of champagne for everybody, but, in actual fact, the work is not yet finished. The Convention still has to meet and debate. I hoped to hear today from our representatives what they intend to do in this Convention, and I urge them strongly not to sit back and think that it is all over now, that nothing can be changed and that, what is more, we have won. We still have to do as much as we can now, before the opening of the Intergovernmental Conference. Indeed, we know – as Mr Brok has said – that we will have to fight to avoid the governments, freed of the vociferous presence of the Members of Parliament and Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, being let loose on a Constitution which is currently uninspiring, not least in that it fails to live up to the expectations of the majority of the citizens or, I believe, the majority of the members of the Convention. I do not agree with those who feel that the pseudo-Constitution we have today is the best we could have achieved, and I believe that it was a serious strategic error on the part of Mr Giscard-d’Estaing and the Praesidium to allow the Convention to be polluted from the outset by the intergovernmental method that it was trying to leave behind. Only during the final days of the Convention was it understood, at last, that submitting to the terms of the most sceptical governments could have caused the entire venture to fail, and the backing of national and European members of Parliament was sought, as well as the support of the much-maligned Commission, working together with the Presidents and the Chairman and Vice-Chairmen of the Convention. Nevertheless, this measure was belated and ineffective, for it was not the fruit of months of work but improvised at the last minute. History is not made with ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’, but, given that it is not all over yet, we believe that these last few weeks must be used to further improve on the compromise reached, that we must learn from our errors and endeavour not to repeat them. For our part, we will endeavour to exert as much pressure as possible as regards four issues which we consider to be extremely important. Firstly, it is absolutely essential to remove the unanimity obligation for the revision of the Constitution and give the European Parliament power of ratification. Mr Méndez de Vigo, my friend and fellow Member, we are not and will not be a constituent Parliament because, as things stand, not only will we not have the power to ratify the Constitution but we will not be consulted on the convening of Intergovernmental Conferences either, as we are at the moment. Thus, we are in danger of losing powers in this area, not gaining them. Secondly, we must work hard to extend the role of the European Parliament in key sectors such as trade policy, cooperation in judicial and criminal matters and the drawing up of the Financial Perspective: the die is not yet irrevocably cast in this area. It is unthinkable that the European Union should continue to participate in major negotiations such as WTO negotiations without any supervision by the European and national parliaments. Thirdly, it is incomprehensible that, in the twenty-first century, after Chernobyl, after the majority of the current Members of the European Union have decided to stop using nuclear energy, there should be an explicit reference in the European Constitution to the promotion of nuclear energy. This is an error which could cost us dear in terms of public opinion, an error which we can still correct. Lastly, I do not believe that merely including the Charter of Fundamental Rights in Part II of the Constitution has much significance for the citizens and legal residents of Europe without a corresponding, definite extension of the possibility of appeal to the Court of Justice, first and foremost in matters of judicial and criminal cooperation. This is our programme for the period between now and the last Convention meeting, scheduled for 10 July. We are searching for support both within and outside the Convention, in the hope that the Chairman, Mr Giscard d’Estaing, and his Praesidium will be able to guide it towards a result which is still within their reach today. When the Intergovernmental Conference opens, it may well be too late. (Applause)

Political group: Verts-ALE