European Union Constitution

Part of the debate – in the Scottish Parliament at 11:24 am on 29 April 2004.

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Photo of Mark Ballard Mark Ballard Green 11:24, 29 April 2004

We need to move away from such polarisation of the debate. We cannot allow that.

I do not believe that, as Tommy Sheridan argued, the European Union is fundamentally a monster. However, it behaves like a monster. When Pascal Lamy goes to the World Trade Organisation in Cancún, he behaves like a monster and ignores the wishes of the people of Europe by pushing the neo-liberal free-trade agenda. However, that does not mean that the European Union is a bad thing or that a constitution is a bad thing. The problem lies with the direction of the European Union and of the draft constitution, about which we must have a proper debate.

I welcomed Phil Gallie's and Margo MacDonald's comments about shared competence, which is a fundamentally daft idea. Imagine the warfare that would take place if this Parliament and the Westminster Parliament had shared competence. We must have clear definitions of who is competent for what; if we do not, we will see the competence creep that Phil Gallie outlined.