Seanad debates

Thursday, 10 October 2002

Address by President of the European Parliament.

 

I was pleased today to hear my European parliamentary colleague, Danny Cohn-Bendit, president of the European Green Group and a man who voted for me with most of his colleagues in last year's election, saying he had asked the Irish to vote "Yes". He said he thought it was a bad treaty. However, one would be wrong if one thought he agrees with the Irish version of why it is bad. Danny Cohn-Bendit thinks it is a bad treaty because it is not federal enough. In a wonderful passionate speech yesterday he accused the Commission, which had just presented the reports on enlargement, of not dreaming. He said, "Je rĂªve de l'Europe". He was talking about his dreams of Europe and spoke with passion and intensity. Gerry Collins stood up with a pin and burst the balloon with one question. He asked him to tell his friends at home that a big obstacle to the enlargement of which he dreams is the Nice treaty. He invited them to ask the Irish people to vote "Yes". Danny Cohn-Bendit walked out of the chamber and gave an interview. He said he did not think it was the best treaty because it was not federal enough, but asked the Irish to vote "Yes". He knows it will remove the last brick from the Berlin Wall and is the morally right thing to do.

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