Derek McDowell (Labour)

Thar ceann Phairtí an Lucht Oibre fáiltím roimh an uachtarán. Mar is eol dó, níor vótáil ionadaithe Phairtí an Lucht Oibre ar a shon nuair a toghadh é mar uachtarán ar Phairlimint na hEorpa an bhliain seo caite, toisc gur liobrálach é. Perhaps that, in a sense, is a reflection of the European vision in that we voted for the British socialist model. I was reminded when the President did his tour through European history and the Irish connection that the Labour Party opposed Irish membership of the EEC in 1972, but we quickly came to realise thereafter that many of the causes that we, as a party, and our sister parties espouse in the rest of Europe, solidarity, workers' rights, women's rights and environmental protection, could not only be enhanced through the European Union and co-operation with other member states and like-minded parties within the Union.

Many people have become tired of the process of constant treaty change. While we all acknowledge this is inevitable in the context of the enlargement of the European Union, there will be an end point at some stage, hopefully relatively soon. I invite the President to cast forward his imagination five to ten years to when we, hopefully, will have approved the results of the convention and there will be a final constitutional structure and to give us briefly his vision of the institutions of the European Union and the Parliament's role in that.