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Ian Hudghton (Verts/ALE
). –
Mr President, President-in-Office, as a representative of the European
Free Alliance stateless nations, such as Scotland, Wales and Catalonia, I
note that Finland, as well as leading the EU and celebrating a hundred
years of restored independence, was the first nation in the world to grant
full political rights to women. As more and more small countries such as
Catalonia, Montenegro and my own, Scotland, seek to reassert our right to
independence, we look to Finland and the other small Member States of the
EU as role models.
I welcome your stated commitment
to transparency and subsidiarity. However, if we are really to restore
public credibility in the European Union, as we both want, we must do more
than simply re-table the existing Constitution text. EU credibility in
Scotland, for instance, will not improve if the disastrous common
fisheries policy is further entrenched. This wasteful trek that we must
make to Strasbourg each month does not help.
I also welcome the
President-in-Office’s stated intention to consult on the Constitution, but
we need to consult not only each other in the institutions but also the
public and take note of what they say. |
