Mr President, I am sure we all remember the heartfelt cry Mr Giscard d'Estaing gave here on 3 September: ‘Never forget the citizens!’ Our Heads of State or Government have clearly failed to take this piece of friendly advice. The impression that they give of their exchanges on the draft constitution is rather pathetic and takes us back in time: this is Nice all over again. The problem is not that the issues they addressed are not worthy ones. They are, however, entirely cut off from what most citizens consider to be the crucial issues: what are the ambitions for the future Union? How will society’s expectations be met? How much will is there to change the course of the current trend of globalisation? Consequently, the discussions taking place unfortunately resemble a power struggle, lacking any vision capable of capturing the people’s imagination. I believe that the European idea is frankly worth more than that. Some observations made by the President of the Commission in his letter to the President-in-Office of the Council also appear to be incapable of stimulating any kind of excitement about Europe amongst the general public. His remarks suggest that European citizens increasingly feel it is important for the Union to press ahead with the structural reforms decided on at Lisbon. These are the proposed reforms on retirement pensions, on social protection, on the labour market, on public services, and yet it is precisely this type of measure that is increasingly frequently setting workers, pensioners and the unemployed, from Rome to Paris, via Berlin, against this caricature of harmonising European policy. What, furthermore, are we supposed to think about the aim stated in the same letter and I quote, ‘to speed up the adoption, at European level, of measures that will enable us to exploit the potential of legal immigrants, while maintaining a firm stance in the fight against illegal immigration’. Does this two-pronged approach really express the concept of Europe-South relations that we wish to promote in the eyes of our fellow citizens? It will definitely grate on the young people who have embraced the idea that another world is possible, a world without predators and without fortresses. These young people feel that a genuine and proactive development policy that gives new hope to the peoples of the South must underpin the solution to the problem of people immigrating in order to survive. More generally, however, is it not time to show the entire European public that the essentially utilitarian and security-based approach to immigration is a dead end, as demonstrated by the unbearable and endlessly repeated tragedies such as the recent example that occurred in the waters surrounding the island of Lampedusa? Mr President-in-Office of the Council, Mr President of the Commission, lastly, and in conclusion, I wish on behalf of my group to put forward a practical, constructive and achievable proposal, which would enable you to make one of those gestures that honour the Union in the eyes of our fellow citizens, because they really bring to life the values that we claim imbue our texts. This proposal concerns peace in the Middle East. As you know, extremely courageous men and women, both Palestinian and Israeli, have spent two years working on a new peace plan, without sidestepping any of the problems that have impeded all official negotiations to date. Some of these people are eminently representative individuals from the fields of politics, the military and culture, including the former Speaker of the Knesset, Avram Burg, with whom we are all familiar. This plan has just been made public and this afternoon, two of its creators, Naomi Shazan, former deputy Speaker of the Knesset and Mr Jamal Zakoud from the Palestinian Legislative Council will join us. At 4 p.m., they will present their historic initiative to all Members who wish to hear. Beforehand, President Cox will receive them and I wish to thank him for doing so. I propose, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, President of the Commission, that you also receive these individuals and that you honour with your presence, or that at least the Council and the Commission honour with their presence, the formal signing of this peace plan in Geneva on 4 November, the anniversary of Yitzhak Rabin’s assassination. This would be a gesture for peace and what gesture could better stamp Europe’s identity on the world stage?

Political group: GUE-NGL