Dutch national news, posted June 25th, 2007

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The member states of the EU have reached an agreement on a new treaty. According to Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, the document ‘does justice to the views held by a large proportion of the population about Europe’.

The European heads of government reached agreement about the content of a new treaty in Brussels on Saturday 23 June 2007.

The new pact will be an amending treaty aimed at concrete improvements. ‘We will now have a new treaty, without pretensions but with ambitions,’ said Balkenende.

The Netherlands and Europe can move on
The prime minister spoke after the summit ended of a ‘tough fight’. ‘There was a lot at stake for the Netherlands and for all the member states. But in the end we worked it out together. The Netherlands and Europe can move on,’ he said.

‘The Netherlands can move on because the result is really very different to what we had two years ago. Justice has been done to the views of a large section of the Dutch people on Europe.

‘And Europe can move on because it is focusing on the things that we really need to solve together. We have agreed ground rules that will make the Union of 27 countries more efficient.’

The summit was a ’success for all of us,’ Balkenende said, ‘with one winner: the European citizen.’

Results
The prime minister mentioned several points agreed by the EU member states:

National parliaments will play a greater role. If several countries have problems with EU plans, their parliaments can prevent the plans from being carried out. National parliaments will also have more time to determine whether a proposal is on a subject that is more suited to the EU or to individual countries.

The member states have solidified their commitment to making Europe respect its own conditions for enlargement.

Member states will retain responsibility for organising their own public services, such as health care and housing policy.

The boundaries between what will be decided at European level and at national level have been more clearly delineated. In the area of family law, for example, European policy can only be made by majority vote if all the member states, including their parliaments, agree to this.

The treaty will address important issues like mitigating climate change. The EU’s pioneering role on this point is being underscored. But the treaty will not include matters that do not need to be in it. While the rights in the Charter of Fundamental Rights will become binding, for example, they will not be incorporated as a whole in the treaty. The rights of Dutch citizens will now be protected from any infringement by the European Union.

Balkenende also mentioned a number of useful provisions from the Constitutional Treaty that will be maintained:

The European Union will become more efficient. EU external policy will now unite diplomacy, development cooperation and trade, for example.

There will be more far-reaching cooperation at EU level to solve transnational problems like crime and terrorism. EU decisions in these areas will be made by majority vote.

‘With this treaty, the Netherlands and Europe are taking a major step forward,’ Balkenende said. ‘The government will send this message with conviction. The outcome fullly acknowledges the concerns that the Dutch people expressed through their vote on the referendum.’

Source: Government.nl, 23 June 2007

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