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EU
CONSTITUTION: KEY QUOTES
Here's
a collection of quotes on the EU Constitution and need for a referendum,
split into five sections: UK Parliament, UK Government, Other UK, International
and European Union.
UK Parliament
“I think
that the EU is going to have to reflect very carefully on the way
ahead because it’s quite clear from what the publics in both France
and Holland have said that they are not happy about more and more
power going to an unelected group of officials in Brussels and power
being taken away from national governments”
Fabian Hamilton MP (Labour)
- speaking on BBC Europe Today programme, 6th June 2005
"The
Constitution was an overambitious attempt to consolidate an outdated
political and economic vision of Europe."
Gisela Stuart MP (Labour), a representative
of Parliament on the Convention that drew up the EU Constitution
- article in the Birmingham Post, 2nd June 2005
"It's
no good saying the Constitution was rejected because it was not
understood. Opinion polls in France showed that the more the French
discussed it, the less they liked it"
Gisela Stuart MP (Labour), a representative
of Parliament on the Convention that drew up the EU Constitution
- article in the Birmingham Post, 2nd June 2005
"If
the European draft treaty is enacted it its present form, it will
fundamentally change the way Britain is governed. Under the treaty's
proposed constitution, we will no longer have any real control over
national policy. "
Frank Field MP (Labour),
former government minister - Daily Mail article, 21st May 2003
"There
is really quite an inherent danger in the traditional British view
that the council of ministers and inter-governmentalism is your protection
against the federalist superstate."
Gisela
Stuart MP (Labour),
representative of Parliament on the EU Convention - ePolitix.com,
2nd December 2002
"For
Peter Hain to turn round and say that this EU Constitution is merely
a 'tidying up' exercise is an insult to everybody's intelligence and
should be treated with the derision which it has attracted."
Roger
Godsiff MP (Labour),
26th June 2003
"It
is time for plain speaking by this House on whether such a constitution
is reconcilable with our position as a self-governing nation."
David Heathcoat Amory MP (Conservative)
- representative of Parliament on the EU Convention
"We should never trade bureaucratic efficiency in return
for democratic accountability"
Gisela Stuart MP (Labour)
- representative of Parliament on the EU Convention
"There
is no evidence that the UK people wish to have this constitutional
change."
Gwyneth Dunwoody MP (Labour)
"That
this House believes that the proposed Treaty soon to emerge from the
Convention on the Future of Europe will, if adopted, mark a fundamental
step in the evolution of the EU; is of the opinion that a decision
by Britain to support or oppose a new Treaty would not have legitimacy
without the genuine consent of the British people; and therefore calls
on the Government to commit itself to holding a referendum at the
appropriate time."
House of Commons Early Day Motion
(No. 1249) signed by 34 Labour MP
"We
do not believe that democratic legitimacy is secured by the system
of voting which allows member states to be out-voted and obliged to
introduce changes in their criminal law and procedure with which they
do not agree."
House of Commons European Scrutiny
Committee, 3rd July 2003
UK Government
"A
constitutional debate must not necessarily end with a single, legally
binding document called a Constitution... What I think is both desirable
and realistic is to draw up a statement of principles... This Statement
of Principles would be a political, not a legal document."
Tony
Blair MP,
former Prime Minister - speech in Warsaw, 6th October 2000
"Many
of the issues being considered in the EU Convention could have far-reaching
consequences for the future performance of EU economies, whether
they are part of the euro area or not."
HM Treasury
assessement of the five euro tests, 9th June 2003
"Our
task is nothing less than the creation of a new constitutional order
for a new united Europe."
Peter
Hain MP, minister on the EU Convention - Financial
Times,
22nd March 2003
"We
must end this nonsense of 'this far and no further'".
Tony
Blair MP, former Prime Minister - speech in
Cardiff, 28th November 2002
"People
will be able to bring it [EU Charter of Fundamental Rights] up in
the European Court of Justice just as if it was the Beano."
Keith Vaz MP,
former Europe Minister - Biarritz EU summit, October 2000
"If
there was fundamental change here there would be a case for a referendum."
Tony Blair MP,
former Prime Minister - speaking to reporters on a flight to Iraq,
28th May 2003
"I
am not saying it has got no substantial constitutional significance,
of course it will have."
Peter
Hain MP,
minister on the EU Convention, House of Commons, 1st April 2003
"This
is not a major change...there is no need for a referendum".
Peter Hain MP,
minister on the EU Convention, BBC PM programme,
8th May 2003
"Those
campaigning for a referendum might as well put away their placards
and stop wasting their money, because we are not going to do it."
Peter Hain MP,
minister on the EU Convention
Other
UK
"We
welcome the No votes in France and the Netherlands... The EU needs
to start listening more and doing less. That means accepting both
referendum results for what they were - powerful expressions of
unease about the current direction of the EU."
Rodney Leach and seven other leading
business chiefs - letter in the Financial Times, 3rd June 2005
"The
EU is an artificial construct. It is an anti-democratic machine,
a bureaucratic nightmare. I am pro-Europe, but opposed to the EU,
which is not Europe".
Luke Johnson, chairman of Channel 4
- The Times, 3rd June 2005
"I
believe that we should return to the first principles of the European
project. The Common Market was originally about free trade. Since
then, the EU has taken on a life of its own."
Carol Vorderman,
TV presenter - The Times, 3rd June 2005
"From
the business point of view, there is hardly any important policy
area outside the control of Brussels"
Sir Digby Jones,
former Director General, CBI - UK Parliamentary Scrutiny of EU
legislation, by Sir Digby Jones, published 4th April 2005
"Europe's
power is easy to miss. Like an 'invisible hand', it operates through
the shell of traditional political structures. The British House
of Commons, British law courts, and British civil servants are still
here, but they have all become agents of the European Union implementing
European law."
Mark Leonard,
Centre for European Reform - CER Bulletin, Issue 40
(Feb/Mar 05)
"This
treaty is a flawed document that will make the EU less accountable,
less sustainable, and less just"
Caroline Lucas MEP, Green Party - BBC
online, 26th January 2005
"A
constitution would be to turn the whole EU system upside down. At
the moment, states confer powers on the Community through treaties.
But the effect of a constitution would be to limit the powers to
the states, turning them into local councils that are not allowed
to do anything unless authorised to do so."
Martin Howe QC
"The constitution
will institutionalise privatisation and the neo-liberal economics
that have helped wreck industries in Britain and turned the EU into
one of the world's low growth regions,"
"The
bottom line is that any government that hands over power to the
degree demanded by the proposed constitution is effectively no longer
a government."
Bob Crow, general
secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union - speech to
the TUC conference, 15th September 2004
International
"One
can naturally discuss certain questions, the too many laws, the
too many regulations, the bureaucracy"
Silvio
Berlusconi, former Italian prime minster -
The Guardian, 3rd June 2005
"The
Dutch 'No' shows that the crisis is European and not just French.
That confirms my idea that there is an integrationist elite, in
other words a group of leaders who believe a forced march is necessary
whatever the criticism from the people"
Hubert Vedrine,
former French Foreign Minister - The Times, 3rd June 2005
After
the Dutch 'No', the European Constitution is like a decapitated
duck that is still running around."
Phillipe de Villiers MP,
president of the Mouvement pour la France - The Times, 3rd June
2005
"It
does not surprise me that people do not trust the EU's institutions
and are not prepared to give them more power, which is what the
constitution would do."
Marta Andreasen, former European Commission
chief accounting officer, sacked after whistle-blowing over fraud
- The Times,
3rd June 2005
"The
member states have already relinquished control of certain economic
and social competences, including justice, liberty and security.
Now the difficult part is approaching: the giving up of sovereignty
in the dual areas of foreign affairs and defence."
Miguel Angel Moratinos,
Spanish Foreign Minister - interview in Cafe Babel, 28th
February 2005
"The
concept of traditional citizenship has been bypassed in the 21st
century. We are witnessing the last remnants of national politics."
Miguel Angel Moratinos,
Spanish Foreign Minister - interview in Cafe Babel, 28th
February 2005
"The
Constitution is not the end point of integration, but the framework
for - as its preamble says - an ever closer union."
Hans
Martin Bury, German Minister for Europe
- Die Welt, 25th February 2005
"The
project of the founding fathers is complete: the economic Union
is becoming a political Union..."
Nicolas
Sarkozy,
French President - Le Figaro, 14th April 2005
"The
Constitution is the capstone of a European Federal State."
Guy Verhofstadt,
Belgian Prime Minister - Financial Times, 21st June 2004
"The
EU Constitution is the birth certificate of the United States of
Europe."
Hans
Martin Bury, German Minister for Europe
- Die Welt, 25th February 2005
"As
a German I regret that European decisions, including those I agree
with, have always been taken without associating with or consulting
the people. In other words, non-democratically. It cannot go on
like this."
Oskar Lafontaine,
former Finance Minister and President of the German Social Democratic
Party - interview with L’Humanité 28th April 2005
The
Constitution is “a compromise, an abstract, artificial and complicated
construction… This treaty reinforces Brussels bureaucracy and the
power of the European Court of Justice. It doesn’t state clearly
what comes from the Commission, and what comes from the member states.
It lets the Commission decide where it will intervene, and, where
there is opposition from the national parliaments, it is the Court
of Justice which decides.”
Jacques Calvet,
former President of PSA-Peugeot-Citroën - interviewed in Le Monde,
29th April 2005
"I
am sure that in medium-term we will have a European army financed
by the EU budget."
Wilhelm
Schönfelder, German ambassador to the
EU, - Handelsblatt, 19th April 2005
“This
Constitution marks the coming of this political Europe that France
has always wanted.”
Claudie
Haigneré,
French Minister for European Affairs - article in Le Figaro, 6th
April 2005
"We
need to begin with the European defence policy - which has to finally
lead, in reality, to a common defence. That will take place through
the plans specified in the European Constitution: The developing
European arms agency, the solidarity and mutual defense clauses,
the armed force for the protection of Europe, and the European general
staff."
Michel
Barnier,
French Foreign Minister - interview in Welt Am Sontag
14th March 2005
“We
are witnessing the last remnants of national politics.”
Miguel Angel Moratinos,
Spanish foreign minister - speech, 1st March 2005
"We
will undoubtedly see European embassies in the world, not ones from
each country, with European diplomats and a European foreign service"
"We will see Europe with a single voice in security matters.
We will have a single European voice within NATO"
Jose Zapatero,
Spanish Prime Minister - radio interview, 17th February 2005
“Napoleon
said that a Constitution should be ‘short and obscure’. Here, we
only have obscurity.”
“[This] infantile Constitution will lead to a social wreck
and saps democracy.”
Jean-Pierre Chevènement,
former French government minister
Le Monde, 4th February 2005
"The
constitutional treaty puts an end to national democracies...if 'no'
wins, Europe will be saved"
Philippe
de Villiers MEP
- Le Figaro, 26th January 2005
"for
the first time Europe has a shared Constitution. This pact is the
point of no return. Europe is becoming an irreversible project,
irrevocable after the ratification of this treaty."
Jean-Pierre Raffarin,
former French Prime Minister - Le Metro, 7th October 2004
"It
[the EU Constitution] is a radical text with wide-ranging consequences
for freedom and for the well-being and future of the nation state."
"It does not resolve Europe's real problems."
Vaclav Klaus,
President of the Czech Republic - AFP, 27th September 2004
“This
text will imprison us, it is irreversible. In the name of Europe,
and of my European conviction, we need a better text.”
Laurent Fabius,
former French Prime Minister - Le Figaro, 27th September 2004
"[The
EU Constitution is] a new step towards a European super-state… I
know that the majority of activists in my party share my opinion”
Sören Wibe,
Swedish Social-Democrat MP - Le Monde, 30th September 2004
"A
full-time president of the European Council would be the most powerful
politician of Europe, but will not be elected by the people or be
accountable to a democratic body meeting in public. How is this
going to bring Europe closer to its citizens?"
Gijs de Vries
- Dutch representative on the EU Convention
"This
is a political revolution without precedent"
Ana Palacio,
Spanish foreign minister - Irish Times, 14th June 2003
"The
EU's constitution is so new and so large a document that it would
be right to hold a referendum on it."
Anders
Fogh Rasmussen,
Danish prime minister - EUobserver.com, 31st May 2003
I
believe in a common space of freedom and security, but this means
that step by step in an evolving process we will transfer rights to
European executive institutions, which will touch the individual rights
of the citizens"
Joschka Fischer,
former German Foreign Minister - speech to the LSE, 4th July 2005
"This
is the most important treaty since the formation of the European Economic
Community."
Joschka
Fischer,
former German foreign minister - The Sun, 14th June 2003
"Creating
a single European state bound by one European Constitution is the
decisive task of our time."
Joschka
Fischer,
former German foreign minister - The Daily Telegraph, 27th December
1998
"Anyone
in Britain who claims the constitution will not change things is trying
to sweeten the pill for those who don't want to see a bigger role
for Europe. The constitution is not just an intellectual exercise.
It will quickly change people's lives."
Lamberto
Dini, former
Italian prime minister - The Daily Telegraph, 1st June 2003
"The
European Constitution will be an essential stage in the historic process
of European integration."
Jacques
Chirac,
former French president & Gerhard Schroder,
former German chancellor - Joint declaration following the Nantes
Franco-German summit, 24th November 2001
"Monetary
union is there, the common currency is there. So our main concern
nowadays is foreign policy and defence. The next step, in terms of
integration of the European Union, will be our constitution. We are
today where you were in Philadelphia in 1787."
Jean-David
Levitte,
French ambassador to the USA - press conference, 3rd April 2003
European Union
"He [Gerhard
Schröder] is not in charge of the European economy, he is not a
head of state either, he's just a head of government"
Jean-Claude
Juncker, Luxembourg's prime minister & current chair
of the Ecofin council, demonstrating the reality of elected national
influence over the EU. Financial Times, 20th January 2005
"Our
constitution cannot be reduced to a mere treaty for co-operation
between governments. Anyone who has not yet grasped this fact deserves
to wear the dunce's cap."
Valery
Giscard d'Estaing, president of the EU Convention
- speech in Aachen accepting the Charlemagne Prize for European
integration, 29th May 2003
"Our
continent has seen successive attempts at unifying it: Caesar, Charlemagne
and Napoleon, among others. The aim has been to unify it by force
of arms, by the sword. We for our part seek to unify it by the pen.
Will the pen succeed where the sword has finally failed?"
Valery
Giscard d'Estaing, president of the EU Convention
- speech in Aachen accepting the Charlemagne Prize for European
integration, 29th May 2003
"We
have sown a seed... Instead of a half-formed Europe, we have a Europe
with a legal entity, with a single currency, common justice, a Europe
which is about to have its own defence."
Valery Giscard d'Estaing,
President of the EU Convention - presenting the final draft of the
EU Constitution, 13th June 2003
"It
[The Charter of Fundamental Rights] is part of the process of federalising
the EU. The consequence of the charter installing a fundamental rights
regime within the [EU] treaties is part of the federalising process,
and I think everyone apart from the Brits seems to be quite clear
about that."
Andrew Duff MEP (Liberal Democrat)
- interview in the Financial Times, 29th March 2000
"Our
continent's unification is at hand and we must stand to account."
Romano
Prodi, Italian
Prime Minister - speech in Brussels, 22nd May 2002
"The
EU must take on new responsibilities. And these new responsibilities
call for intensifying the integration process."
Romano
Prodi, Italian
Prime Minister - speech in Brussels, 22nd May 2002
"These
tasks form the core of the new European Project and they represent
a giant step forward in European integration."
Romano
Prodi, Italian
Prime Minister - speech in Brussels, 22nd May 2002
"We
are involved in a constitution-building process of historic import...
The Convention should mark a new stage in European integration."
Romano
Prodi, Italian
Prime Minister - speech in Brussels, 22nd May 2002
"Do
we really want judges, who are unaccountable, making decisions on
economic rights? If you include some rights in a Charter which is
of necessity expressed in fairly bald terms, it may have unintended
and unforeseen effects when judges come to interpret it."
David Byrne,
EU Commissioner and former Irish attorney general
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