Speech by John Bruton TD, Leader of Fine Gael
at the EPP Congress, Brussels
Friday 5 February, 1999

Europe's biggest challenges for the 21st century will be :

• to preserve peace
  
• to remain dynamic despite having an ageing population, and
  
• to ensure that every person counts when it comes to distributing the fruits of prosperity.
  

I do not believe the anachronistic categories of Left and Right will help Europe to preserve peace, to become more dynamic, or to make sure that every person counts.

The classic Left and the classic Right, and their model of politics, offer Europe nothing more than a never-ending dialogue of the deaf.

In contrast, the objectives and values set, out in his speech yesterday by José Maria Aznar, do offer to Europe the means of preserving peace, of guaranteeing continued dynamism and of making sure that every person counts.

We can preserve peace if Europe looks at the world with eyes of tolerance, as José Maria said. Europe must be able to defend itself too. We cannot expect others to do that for us.

Europe must face up to the intense rapidity of economic change. The effect of a single price in a single currency, and instantaneous communication of information over the internet, will leave no hiding place for inefficiency anywhere in the world.

That is why in economics we must put the emphasis on freedom, opportunity and education, not on controls, quotas or unrealistic rights. But people must be at the centre of our political action, and that is why Europe must set itself the objective of realising the full potential of each person, realising it through family life, through voluntary work for others, and through paid work.

That must be the distinctive contribution of the European People's Party. Our focus is on the whole person and his or her whole potential - not just on economic man.

To achieve our ambitions we must overcome the antipathies that exist to the European Union in some countries - the phenomena that I would describe as euro-scepticism, euro-minimalism, and euro-scapegoating. Our Action Programme must tackle these three phenomena head on.

This Congress and our Action Programme must begin a process of rebuilding support for our ideas, and for the Union itself, among the citizens of Europe.

Of course, politics is about winning effective majorities. We want to become the biggest party in the European Parliament. We want to lead. We want our members to take the leadership positions. But we can only lead, if we know where we want to go. That is why we need a common programme, that makes hard choices and represents a real and shared commitment. That programme must be accepted by all who wish to be part of our decision making.

If we are to lead Europe into the 21st century, we must set out a clear and coherent vision for the new Millennium. That is why today's debate on our Programme is so important.

It has been clear for some time that there is a big gap in political legitimacy in the current European Union structures. Citizens feel that they themselves have not necessarily chosen the people who take decisions on their behalf, and that they have, therefore, no direct voice in the European decision-making process. I believe that the people of Europe must be now given such a direct voice.

This is especially important, now that we have begun the process of introducing the Euro, are developing a stronger common foreign and security policy, and are admitting additional member states to the Union. All of these issues bring the potential for a conflict over legitimacy.

We have a gap in political legitimacy in the European Union because there is no visible connection between how people vote, either in National or in European Parliament Elections, and the choices that are made in the European Council, Parliament or Commission. A visible connection must exist between the way people vote, and who does what, and when, in the European Union, if we are to bridge the gap in political legitimacy in the Union.

If we see euro-scepticism in some countries, euro-minimalism in others, and euro scapegoating in yet others, it is because of this gap in political legitimacy - a gap that this party must dedicate itself to fill.

Because our citizens currently vote for the European Parliament in much the same way as they elect their own national parliamentarians, we have a different set of public opinions in each of the fifteen member states. We need to develop a European public opinion that will legitimise European decision making.

There are a number of options as to how we could achieve enhanced political legitimacy in the European Union.

In my view, the best option would be to allow the elected European Parliament to in turn elect the President of the Commission from among its own members. And allow the President to select the remaining Commissioners from amongst other members of the Parliament, while ensuring balanced representation of all States. This would probably result in the leader or nominee of the largest group becoming Commission President, and thus would create a direct link between results of European elections and the direction the European Union would take.

A proposal along these lines raises a number of difficult questions. It would have to be tempered with protections for the rights of member states.

The competences of the Union and of member states would have to be delineated separately. But once that was done, the work of the European Union would have a full and direct European democratic mandate for its work.

It would result in the creation of European political parties, as distinct from coalitions of national parties.

To sum up, I believe that this party must put the achievement of the full potential of each person at the heart of our political project. In so doing, we will transcend the old categories of Left and Right, of Liberal, Socialist and Conservative. We can draw on all traditions, and draw on all intellectual inheritances, in this task.

This party must make all Europeans feel that they, and their interests, are at the heart of the European Union's work, and convince them that their vote on polling day can make a real difference as to who leads the Union, as to what the Union does, and as to the sort of future that the next generation of Europeans will enjoy.

* * *