John Minihan (Progressive Democrats)

I join all Senators in welcoming Mr. Cox to the House as President of the European Parliament and I compliment him on his excellent address. I want to address the question of sovereignty and Mr. Cox's definition of it. The interesting analogy he gave was that, having found our political independence, our full independence was only gleaned when we joined Europe and also gained economic independence. It is amusing that the principal speakers on the "No" side argue about our loss of sovereignty and representation. They say we will dilute the number of MEPs we have and consequently our influence. They ignore the fact that we do not work as one group of MEPs and that some of those who argue this case voted against Mr. Cox for President of the European Parliament on a day that all the politicians and people of Ireland were so justifiably proud of his wonderful achievement. I ask that Mr. Cox address his view of this new sovereignty as distinct from a loss of sovereignty.