Don Lydon (Fianna Fail)

I believe that if this constitutional treaty were called by another name, such as the EU Treaty or the Treaty of Paris or Dublin, it would not generate the same degree of negative comment. The very word "constitution" conjures up images of a superstate, a supranational parliament, and even of an empire, yet the process of drawing up this treaty was more participative, deliberative, open and transparent than any previous treaty-making exercise in Europe. This is a value map to guide and determine the substance of the Union's action. Ultimately, the translation of these values and objectives into policy depends on sincere, committed and considered leadership, as well as political will. The treaty enhances the Union's capacity to act, while providing considerable gains in democracy and transparency, filling many of the lacunae identified in earlier treaties. It provides a flexible constitutional framework, which will enable the EU to meet its internal and external challenges in the years ahead.

If this treaty is ratified, it will come into force on 1 November 2006, or on the first day of the second month after the last member state deposits its ratification. There is a provision to amend the treaty, but it is recommended as a permanent roadmap for the future of the EU. Whether the EU citizens share the vision of Schuman and the founding fathers will depend on debate and the political will of any given time. What we are doing today is a useful exercise as it is our job to encourage debate in a free and open way. This endeavour is not just to operate a set of rules and regulations — it is much more than that. It is a pathway to peace and an absence of war. Europe has been without this major war for a long time. War means death, pain, injustice, famine, disease and pestilence. Most of all it means hatred that goes on for generations. When the wounds are healed and the hatreds have stopped, we forget what happened.

I suggest that people who do not intend voting for this treaty take a trip to Auschwitz and Belsen and other camps, where millions of people were put to death simply because they were Jews, homosexuals or gypsies. Let me remind the House what happened in the very first week that the Nazis entered Russia. They destroyed 1,000 aeroplanes and 5,000 tanks, but they killed 1 million men. The Russians themselves lost more than 28 million people in the war. They were no saints either and in one go they killed 10,000 Polish officers.

Why do we need all of this? We have a roadmap and something that will enable us to stay with this peaceful process. In that sense this is more than just a treaty. It is not just a constitution as it gives an opportunity for 25 nation states and 425 million people to keep the peace in Europe. That is the basis of all of this. The absence of peace is too horrific to imagine. We might say that it could not happen again, but we did not know the atrocities Pol Pot, Idi Amin or Hitler would commit. These things happen throughout history. We have a pathway to peace and I urge all peoples to walk this path, to ratify the constitution and to establish a Union where people can live, work and hope in a democratic community.