Home What's New Speeches & Articles Newsletter - Apr 2008 Biography Diary Contact Information Photo Album Parliamentary Highlights Publications Links MEPs' Transparency   Conservative Party Latest News from Conservatives.com Conservative Party Website
		German Presidency Plenary Speech - Thursday, 7th June 2007 Mr President A key focus of the German Presidency has been its determined attempt to revive the substance of the EU Constitutional Treaty, which was roundly rejected by French and Dutch voters in mid-2005. We claim to be a Europe of values based on democracy and the rule of law, yet this attempt to resurrect the Constitution in defiance of the clear and expressed views of the voters demonstrates a vast contempt for democracy and for European citizens. And the methods proposed are deceitful and dishonourable. We have Angela Merkel's letter in which she proposes "different terminology without changing the legal substance", and "replacing the Charter of Fundamental Rights by a short cross reference having the same legal value". Mrs. Merkel, this is downright dishonest. You should be ashamed. Then our leaders will fraudulently pretend that the new Treaty is wholly different from the previous text, and therefore requires no referendum. I remind my country's incoming Prime Minister Gordon Brown that he is bound by a clear Labour manifesto commitment to put the Constitution to the British people. He cannot pretend that a few cosmetic changes can invalidate that pledge.