Ciarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)

The lower house would be elected on a proportionate basis from the member states, not unlike the American Senate where each country might also have two members in an upper house. This would ensure that the voices of small nations would not be lost and would have a power of veto over future policy. Those are issues to discuss another day.

We welcome debate and discussion within our party and disagreement is allowed. Unlike other parties we do not have a strong tradition of una voce uno duce, and I do not refer exclusively to parties on this side of the House. Nor do we subscribe to the "E pluribus unum — From many, one" view of Europe. There certainly is space to have many different voices, not only within Europe but also in the debate on Europe within my own party. We are happy to debate and to decide our policy. We will be having that important debate before the end of the year.

The Charter of Fundamental Rights is very important to us. Unlike in the UK, we feel that making it legally binding is a very positive aspect of the treaty.

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