XVIth EPP CONGRESS The EPP: Your Majority in Europe 4 - 5 February 2004 European Parliament BRUSSELS

Enda KENNY, Leader of Fine Gael
ADDRESS TO THE EPP CONGRESS

Brussels, February 5, 2004



If Jean Monnet were to reappear on 18 June next, I believe he would be a happy man. He would see, potentially, 350 million people in 25 countries, going to the polls to send here to the European parliament, the men and women they believe will give them the best, the most coherent voice in the new, enlarged Europe. Quite an achievement for a continent, which, in the last 90 years, lost over 60 million people to war and other political conflict.

The European Parliament will be bigger, more powerful and more vital. And it is no coincidence that the EPP will again be the biggest group there. As committed Europeans, we have worked hard for that status, a status we must strive to keep. And now that the new, unified Europe spreads from the Atlantic to the Baltic, we will be redoubling our democratic efforts on behalf of all the peoples of our diverse, our complex Union.

Jean Monnet himself said ‘Nobody can think for you. Look out of the window. Pay attention to the people at your side.’ He would be pleased that we did look. He would be proud that the people once beside us, in the fragile, new democracies of the east, will come May Day, be part of us.

But I think his advice that ‘nobody can think for us’, needs some careful reconsideration.

You see, when we talk to our citizens about Europe they often say it is too remote, disconnected, unwieldy, bureaucratic and unaccountable. That it has much power, little responsibility. The fact that they feel like this at all is largely our fault - the politicians. We could do more and better to communicate the essence of Europe, that Europe is a process not a product. And we must do more now that come May, Europe will be bigger and more diverse than ever before.

The Irish Government learned a salutary lesson in the first Nice Treaty Referendum. The people decided they were tired of being spoken down to, sick of the Government thinking for them, so first time around, they voted No to Nice. In the second referendum, though, my party, Fine Gael led the campaign for a Yes vote.

We brought Europe to the country, engaging people, challenging people on the big European issues. In a great show of people power, the electorate made it quite clear that only when they had the facts would they be prepared to vote and to vote Yes. In the end, we achieved a resounding Yes vote, which shows, that when we bring the people with us, when we don’t attempt to think for them, we can achieve enormous success, both in terms of democratic engagement and electoral results.

If we had not achieved that result in Ireland, then the accession of the 10 new member states would have been very difficult.

Ireland’s lesson must be Europe’s too. That is why I believe we must make every effort to resolve the outstanding issues on the Constitution before the elections in June. If Europe is to keep its connection with the people, then the people should be able to vote knowing exactly the kind of system those they elect will serve in.

As Leader of the Opposition in Ireland, I have been urging the Taoiseach to inject more urgency into his work as President of the Council to resolve these issues. The bilateral meetings are over. It’s time now for action.

In my view, it’s not enough for the Taoiseach to ‘report’ to the March European Council. As President in Office, he has a much greater responsibility to fulfill. I believe that the the finalisation of agreement on the Constitutional Treaty should be the only agenda item for the March European Council meeting, so we can overcome the small obstacles to agreement that remain. Resolving the impasse is desirable and should be achieved before we begin our election campaigns. That way, when our people go to the polls, they will know the rules which will govern the Union for the future.

The task of completing this work may be much more difficult after the European elections.

I believe the EPP can play a vital role in achieving this agreement objective.We are the only party to have proposed a European Constitution and our representatives drove the success of the European Convention. WE must now take the lead again in a final push for agreement.

50 years ago, Jean Monnet advised
“Europeans can only realize all the possibilities that nature and history have given them, if they live up to the rhythm of their time.”

These are our possibilities, our rhythm, our time. Let’s use them well.