Wallström wil officiële verklaring van de 25 EU-lidstaten over toekomst van de Europese Grondwet in 2007 (en)

SPEECH/06/305

Margot Wallström

Vice President of the European Commission responsible for Institutional Affairs and Communication Strategy

European Parliament, Plenary Session. Commission statement on the "Commission contribution to the June European Council"

Strasbourg, 16 May 2006

Mr President, Honourable Members,

[..]

In all of our actions, our commitment to subsidiarity, openness and transparency, as well as our efforts towards better regulation, will be vigorously pursued.

We will seek to involve national parliaments more in the process of policy formulation. Still, the Commission's main interlocutor is and remains the European Parliament.

Let me now turn to the institutional issues.

Five countries that had not yet ratified the Constitution before the starting of the period of reflection have now done so. Furthermore, Estonia's Parliament voted in favour of the Constitution on the 9 of May, which brings to 15 the number of countries having ratified.

And we are pleased to know that incoming Presidency, Finland, is also planning to ratify the Constitution.

We welcome the new ratifications. They show that Member States are attached to the principles and values of the Constitution.

We have to listen to the views and the positions of the countries which said "No". But it is equally important to listen to the voices of those who say "Yes".

I hope that there is no misunderstanding among us on one point.

The Commission continues to endorse the principles and improvements the Constitution would bring. The Constitution would definitely make the Union more effective, more open and more democratic. It flowed from a Convention where parliamentarians were the majority voice.

Of course, we would like to see the Constitutional Treaty ratified in all 25 Member States. We stand with Parliament on this.

Many options have been floated on how to overcome the current deadlock. Many ideas are discussed. But yet, no consensus exists on the way forward.

Is the time ripe for a solution to be presented? To use a common language, it is already time to work on the text, or it is yet time to work on the context?

We need to rebuild a climate of confidence and trust. We need to reconnect with citizens and prove, by concrete results, that the Union can address citizens' needs and their aspirations.

Let me be clear: delivering results for citizens through key policies it is not an alternative to tackling the institutional issues. It is part of a twin track approach where progress on one track makes it easier to move ahead on the other.

We propose that, next year, the three Institutions adopt together a declaration. This should serve as a basis for decisions by the European Council on a process leading to a future comprehensive institutional settlement.

I see the declaration as a concrete prove of Member States, Parliament and Commission's firm will to solve the institutional deadlock. And I expect the European Parliament to play an important role there. As you, I hope that we can together achieve a constitutional settlement by the European elections of 2009.

The listening exercise proved to be successful and should continue. Plan D was not an on-off operation. I have promised the Commission that I will come back after the June Summit on what should be our next steps the second phase, if you wish, of Plan D.

Thank you for your attention.