Seanad debates
Wednesday, 26 February 2003
Convention on the Future of Europe: Statements.
The Convention will not conclude on what we will be voting on in a referendum – it is a mechanism for giving national and European parliamentarians, national governments, accession states and the social partners a forum in which to debate a range of issues within a certain context and present their combined wisdom to all 25 Governments of the European Union. We hope they will take on board most of what we consider to be worthwhile. The Governments of the European Union will draw a red line through X or add to Y and finally the peoples of Europe will make the decisions on whether they accept the work of the Convention and the Intergovernmental Conference. The key point is that the Convention is only one but a significant part of a process because it is creating a momentum. As I said, the fact that a number of member states have decided to beef up their representation at the Convention is a reflection of this.
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