Amsterdam, 27 November 2001

Op donderdag 22 november vergaderde de Tweede Kamer voor de laatste maal over de goedkeuring van het Verdrag van Nice.

Dit verdrag is een aanvulling op de verdragen van Rome, Maastricht en Amsterdam.

In Ierland werd het Verdrag van Nice in het voorjaar per referendum verworpen. 

De Tweede Kamer heeft het Verdrag zonder veel tegenstemmen aanvaard.

| Click hier voor het debat plus bijbehorende Regeringsstukken |

Amsterdam, 23 november 2001

The British Prime Minister Tony Blair spoke out his vision of a "whole-hearted" British role in European politics at the opening of the European Research Institute at Birmingham University.  

He cast aside the role Britain played sofar in the history of the European Union.

"We said that it wouldn't happen. Then we said it wouldn't work. Then we said we didn't need it. But it did happen. And Britain was left behind.

We were left behind because it succeeded. The six founder members had created something which worked.

It worked in making friends out of old enemies - precisely the goal set out in the Schuman declaration, to make war "not merely unthinkable but materially impossible".

It worked by making them richer.

It worked by making them a force to be reckoned with in the world.

We thus had to recognise, even in the early 1960s, that the Common Market had worked. And that "a thousand years of history" were not enough. Because yesterday's heritage did not guarantee today's influence or tomorrow's prosperity."

This said, he sees a clear role for Britain in Europe. A role not build on illusions of the long past Empire Britain once was, but a constructive role, pursuing the self- interest of Britain as part of a larger political entity.

"The history of our engagement with Europe is one of opportunities missed in the name of illusions - and Britain suffering as a result.

The greatest disservice any British leader could do to the British people today is to seek to perpetuate those illusions."

| For the Full speech click here |

Former Euro top politicians 
sound the bell for EU reform

Amsterdam, 27 november 2001

Under the title "A wake up call for Europe" former European top politicians pleaded for a structural reform of the European Union.

The manifesto was organised by Etienne Davignon, former Vice President of the European Commission and was inspired by the forthcomming enlargement of the Union.

| For full text click here | 

The manifesto was organised by Etienne Davignon, former Vice President of the European Commission, President of Friends of Europe and Vice-President of the Société Générale de Belgique. 
It was signed by: Helmut Schmidt, Giuliano Amato, Etienne Davignon, Jean-Luc Dehaene, Helmut Kohl, Felipe Gonzalez, Jacques Santer, Peter Sutherland, Karel van Miert, Mario Soares, Maria Lourdes Pintassilgo and Lord Jenkins. Valéry Giscard d'Estaing and Ruud Lubbers were asked, but did not respond to the invitation. Nicole Fontaine and Simone Veil did not sign because of their role whithin the institutions.