Press Release

21 February 2003

International conference, Athens 20-21 February 2003
Contribution to the Convention on the Future of Europe

Giscard D’Estaing: The existing strong European awareness should be the basis of the European constitution:
Disappointment at the division of heads of governments in current Iraqi crisis

“A European awareness already exists and should become the basis on which we have to build the Constitution and the institutions of the European Union”. Speaking at the international conference of the European Movement in Athens, the President of the European Convention expressed his disappointment at the division of European heads of governments in the current Iraqi crisis. “If today the European citizens would be divided as their governments – he said – we could not hope to progress very far”.

He congratulated the European Movement for its role in contributing towards emergence of a common European identity. Listening to the results of the trans-national project “Our Europe, Our Future” organised by the international European Movement in 25 European countries and presented to the public during the plenary session by José Maria Gil Robles, President of the iEM, Giscard welcomed the positive signs of European awareness revealed by the project.

The people consulted by the EM recognized the EURO, the youth exchange programmes and the 12-star flag as positive symbols of Europe. Furthermore, an overwhelming majority of citizens participating in the poll are in favour of a Constitution to be ratified by a qualified majority of member states, for a full legislative co-decision right of the European Parliament with the Council and for a Common Foreign and Security Policy to be brought within the community framework.

President Giscard D’Estaing, in front a more than 500 delegates of the European Movement and at many important figures from the European political arena*, complained of the lack of courage of European politicians in supporting innovative ideas for the Europe of the future. He repeated his support for the idea of a Congress of the Peoples of Europe under the Presidency of the President of the European Parliament, which could represent a “predominant public and political opinion”. He confirmed his disappointment at the lack of an original European hymn and his preference for the name “United Europe” for the Europe of the future. Finally he underlined the need for European politicians to put into practice what they write in the documents (with a reference to the last European Council). In this international crisis Europeans should elaborate a common action. The emergence of a common European awareness has to be made concrete through common European institutions” - said Giscard.

*Among others: P.Balazs, Representative of Hungarian Government in the European Convention, F. Basile, Italian member of the European Convention, A. Berzins, former Prime Minister of Latvia, E. Brok, Chairman of Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament and member of the European Convention, T. Giannitis, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece, K. Karamanlis, Leader of the “New Democracy” party in Greece, C. Lalumière, Vice President of the European Parliament, J. Meyer, Delegate of the German Parliament to the European Convention, T. Tiilikainen, Representative of the Finnish Government in the European Convention.

For more information:
Henrik H. Kröner – Secretary general
25, Square de Meeus, B-1000 Bruxelles
Tel.: + 32 25083088 Fax: + 32 25083089
mailto:secretariat@europeanmovement.org
http://www.europeanmovement.org/