Seanad debates

Wednesday, 22 October 2003

European Convention/Intergovernmental Conference: Statements.

 

10:30 am

Photo of Paul BradfordPaul Bradford (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Roche, to the House. He has addressed us on a number of occasions concerning matters on European policy. It adds greatly to the debate in the House and I thank him for his contribution.

All of us have received copies of the proposed draft constitution for Europe. When it is finalised in the near future, hopefully with minimal change and some clarification, it will be a magnificent document. The guarantee of the future economic and social progress of the European Union will be within the pages of the treaty. It will be the greatest guarantee of peace and stability across a huge part of the world. We can only reflect on how different the world would have been if there was such thinking, political progress and unanimity a century ago. Literally, hundreds of millions of lives would have been saved if the type of politics which we are now agreed on had been agreed then. A century might sound like a long time but in the context of world history it is a short time. In that short time we have come a long way. This proposed constitution for Europe will be the final guarantee necessary that the Continent of Europe will continue to be a beacon of civilisation, progress and peace.

Our current debate on the proposed constitution and the Intergovernmental Conference is tremendous because it has been so open and transparent. Some of my colleagues, including Senator Ryan, were at the British-Irish Interparliamentary Body meeting during the week and while there we discussed the Convention and the future of Europe. One of the constant themes coming from our British colleagues was their view that more transparency is required. I am not sure how widespread the debate on Europe has been within the United Kingdom. Certainly, our debate has been very transparent, be it within the Houses of the Oireachtas, or that led by the Forum on Europe, chaired by our colleague, Senator Maurice Hayes, or the work of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on European Affairs. We have done an excellent job in keeping the public as informed as they wished.

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