Address to EU conference at House of Commons

The main purpose of the Constitution for Europe should be that of returning Europe to the people, President Guido de Marco told a conference on EU enlargement at the House of Commons in London yesterday.

He also said that the challenge facing the Convention on the Future of Europe was not only in creating the right equilibrium between a national identity and a European union, but also of the division of competences between the EU and the member states.

President de Marco said Malta sought not only stability in EU membership but also to be a bridge between Europe and its southern Mediterranean neighbours.

When Malta applied to join the EU, there were two Europes, two Germanies, two superpowers. Of the nations joining the EU next year, at the time when Malta applied to join, four were Warsaw Pact members, three were an integral part of the Soviet Union and one formed part of a Communist federal republic. Cyprus and Malta were active participants in the Non-Aligned Movement.

The reality of history had made of ideologies and iron curtains, shadows of the past, hurdles of yesterday.

It is not by hegemony or coercion that the union of Europe was realising itself, but by sheer political determination and availability; by the creation of common institutions and the belief that together those countries could venture into territories that were otherwise unreachable with individual country capabilities; through the process of joint decision-making and the logic of persuasion; through the willingness of the peoples of Europe to work together, notwithstanding the unique historical and cultural physiognomy of every people. For there was unity in diversity and this was the Europe of values and of cultures.

At the heart of this project was the concept of sharing sovereignty - members did not give up their sovereignty but rather they shared it in specific areas. And in so doing they were actually fortifying their individual sovereignty for they were more able to defend themselves and advance their interests.

"This Europe is working towards giving itself a written constitution. Some may ask why a written constitution, the more so here in the mother of parliaments, where an unwritten constitution has helped the evolution of democracy and a tenacious belief in freedom unsurpassed in history.

"But I can understand this movement of opinion for a Constitution of Europe, trying to identify the areas of commonality, adherence to the principle of subsidiarity and at the same time ensuring that it be not a union of bureaucrats deciding for citizens who are unaware of the bureaucrats' existence. Indeed the whole spirit of the Constitution of Europe should be that of returning Europe to the people.

"There is always a temptation to fall into rhetoric in speaking about ideas and ideals. But it is not rhetoric when Europe through its Single Market tries to ensure a stronger economic reality for Europe. This economic reality must be inspired by a social market adherence, ensuring not prosperity for some at the expense of loss of employment for many, but the principles of a welfare society based on social justice."

Professor de Marco observed that a Common Foreign and Security Policy would evolve through a Minister of Foreign Affairs for Europe with such a policy being mainly the result of consultations and decisions taken together. This, he said, would not prove to be an easy task.

"Indeed, may I also remark that while we speak about a Single Market and a Single Currency, we do not speak of a Single Foreign and Security Policy but the emphasis is on a Common Foreign and Security Policy.

"We may find ourselves, indeed we will find ourselves, in difficulties as this Common Foreign and Security Policy will emerge. But it is through the experiences in this field, of working together, through the logic of persuasion, through new bonds being created by different countries building up one Europe, that we can achieve a Common Foreign and Security Policy.

"We will also gain by our different geographical locations. Britain, France, Spain and Portugal will help to consolidate our transatlantic dimension, Germany and the central European powers will consolidate Continental Europe, while the Nordic countries, the Baltic republics, Poland and Hungary will reach out towards the Russian Federation and the Caucasus, creating a greater awareness of Europe's eastern dimension."

Malta and the other Mediterranean countries could bring a much-needed dimension to the Mediterranean world.

"I have said that the main purpose of the Constitution for Europe should be that of returning Europe to the people. This can be done through a dual approach.

"On the one hand we have to ensure and give the right answer to the sensitive question of national identities and their historical and cultural traditions. This applies with particular reference to countries that have achieved their sovereignty lost through a totalitarian belongingness to the Soviet bloc as well as through colonial rule.

"These nations in joining Europe, want to reassert their national identity, their history long submerged. They want to rebuild, through the reassertion of their sovereignty, a link of equality within the wider concept of a European family, the vivid realisation of a maison commune.

"The reply to this sensitive question is not in contradiction with an equally strong will towards an emerging European identity and towards a common European citizenship.

"A fundamental challenge to the Convention is not only in creating the right equilibrium between a national identity and a European one, but also on the division of competences between the European Union and the member states.

"Indeed this squaring of the circle is being achieved in the draft European Constitution published so far. The draft Constitution establishes that the free movement of persons, of goods, of services, of capital, and the freedom of establishment shall be guaranteed within and by the Union in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution and any discrimination on grounds of nationality shall be prohibited.

"In the article immediately following the one dealing with the relations between the Union and the member states, the Constitution established that: 'The Union shall respect the national identities of its member states inherent in their fundamental structures, political and constitutional, including for regional and local self government. It shall respect the essential state functions including for ensuring the territorial integrity of the state and for maintaining law and order, and safeguarding internal security.'

"This function and relationship of the Union and the member states is best expressed in the article dealing with citizenship of the Union:

"Every national of a member state shall be a citizen of the Union. Citizenship of the Union shall be additional to national citizenship: it shall not replace it.

"I believe that the EU enlargement to take place in 2004 is not going to be an easy task. But I am equally convinced that it will succeed if the emphasis, more than on the technical details, be put on the political will to ensure its achievement. A strong Commission is essential for a better functioning of the Union.

"Enlargement will have a significant effect on the emergence of a multi-polar world. It will certainly have a relevance for security in the Union, bringing about a better understanding in Russian-European relations, a better awareness to a Baltic Europe and, to my view, make of the EU an effective presence for peace and development in the Middle East and the Mediterranean.

"Italy's coming presidency will affirm its strategic interest in the region at a very sensitive moment in the making of the Road Map for the Middle East a viable preposition.

"Some do consider the emergence of a European Foreign and Security Policy as a challenge to present Euro-American relations. I think that this is a mistaken approach. What we have to build are not foreign and security policies in conflict with the USA; what we have to achieve is the emergence of a political dialogue between partners, working together for world peace within a United Nations context.

"We have to strive and ensure the emergence of a united Europe, rich in its heritage of ideals, in its mission for progress, in its belief in fundamental freedoms and social justice. This is not starry-eyed idealism. All great strides of mankind have been achieved by hitching man's wagon to a star. This is what we are trying to do in Europe and for Europe," President de Marco concluded.