Speaker: Manfred WEBER (Germany — Christlich-Soziale Union in Bayern e.V.)
Political group: Group of the European People's Party (Christian Democrats)
Date: 2019-12-18
Debate: Commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the Lisbon Treaty and the legally binding Charter of Fundamental Rights (debate)

  Manfred Weber,  on behalf of the PPE Group. – Mr President, let’s face it – with the Lisbon Treaty, Europe settled after the failure to create a true European constitution. 
We were not put down; instead, we learned from our setbacks, we actually made progress thanks to a moment of crisis of the European Union. The Lisbon Treaty created a union out of a community. It gave Europe a political face to speak as one in foreign policy, sitting at the same table of world leaders at NATO and, for example, on the Iran nuclear deal. It strengthens the role of citizens. Co-decision became the central way of legislation in Europe.
The European Parliament, our institution, is today a powerful institution, and we added new responsibilities to the European level. The fight against crime, exchange of data, parts of the asylum policy became European issues. This decision has brought Europe more security and safety, and it gave a binding character to the Charter of Fundamental Rights, embedding our European way of life. The Charter tells us what it means to be in a European – social market economy, protection of our environment, rule of law, democracy and freedom. 
Europe has never walked in a straight line. Both progress and setbacks shape it. The Lisbon Treaty was a huge step towards a modern way of cooperation among the European Union Member States. Edmund Burke said ‘a state without the means of some change is without the means for its conservation’.
So 10 years after the Lisbon Treaty, let us take the next bold steps now. The upcoming Conference on the Future of Europe is the best opportunity for doing so. As Giscard D’Estaing opened the European Convention, he said ‘let’s dream of Europe’ and I would say let’s dream again. 
As our community develops, we must now answer fundamental questions. What are the main areas where the European Union must act in the future? We must carry out a competence check in the European Union. The European Union must focus only on issues where we really have a positive impact on citizens’ daily life. Still, in necessary fields, the EU also needs the right tools to act. 
A second point for the future – how can we strengthen the parliamentary democracy at European level? – is still at stake. Because the citizens will only trust Europe when they will hold decision makers accountable.
And a third point: how can we strengthen Europe’s role in the world? Standing in the clash between China and the US, Europe can either get lost in the chaos or speak with one voice.
In our election campaign as the EPP this year, the listening tour was our starting point. Let’s now write the history of our union together with the people, working side by side with the citizens, national and regional parliaments, with the European Parliament in the central role as the House of the elected representatives. 
For the European People’s Party Group we have a clear idea. It will be not about the minimum common denominator, but the best possible sum of our ideas. It will not be a theoretical exercise, but a concrete start for a more democratic Europe and it will not be a technical exercise, but a real debate about what it means to be a European. To create next to our national identity also the European identity.
Let this 10-year anniversary be the start of a new European dream. The EPP group is ready to make the difference. 
(Applause)