EU's Qualified Majority Voting Scam

European leaders are gathered in Athens, in the ancient Attalus Arcade at the foot of the Acropolis, on the occasion of the 10 new EU members - Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Cyprus and Malta - signing up to their accession treaties, thus legally binding the agreement sealed at the Copenhagen summit of the European Council last December.

It is the biggest ever expansion of the EU, realizing a dream of a generation and reuniting our continent 13 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, when Cold War barriers were swept away by the tide of democracy and freedom.

I warmly welcome, in celebration, the new members into our European family.

I believe this is also an appropriate moment to pause and reflect upon both our present condition and our future course. What Europe are the new countries joining and what Europe can we aspire to achieve?

I cannot overemphasise the great achievements of our Union, today recognised widely both by enthusiastic supporters and sceptics, friends and foes alike. For five decades now, Europe has enjoyed a period of peace unprecedented in its long history of conflicts and antagonisms. The ghosts of the past have been laid to rest. The Kantian dream of "perpetual peace" has been realized within its borders.

From a historical point of view, it is perhaps the greatest accomplishment of international co-operation ever achieved. Our way of conducting foreign policy emphasises diplomacy, negotiations, common interests, close economic, cultural and political ties, inducements rather than sanctions, multilateral rather than unilateral actions. The EU has made a real contribution to world stability and security.

European citizens today enjoy high standards of living, a developed economy, high levels of social protection and cohesion, a fairer and more just society. Our successes have been underpinned by what we call "community method", reflecting its unique nature as a union of states and peoples. It has paid rich dividends. The original Common Market, however, has gradually evolved into something considerably more substantial than a market. The Union is not merely about the single market and a common currency.

Thriving in its diversity, Europe has developed step by step its institutional structures, improved substantially its decision-making processes and democratic accountability, expanded its areas of competence to meet new challenges, strengthened its political co-operation and embarked on developing new capabilities, so as to act as a more credible force in the international system beyond its economic, social and cultural power. Let us take our most recent project, the euro, as a timely reminder that both painstaking moves and greater leaps forward require above all political will, courage, mutual trust, imagination and a common perspective. Our peoples share the same values and a firm commitment to promote them.

While debating our future and drafting our new constitution, we should not lose sight of what has led us from strength to strength over the years, while remaining fully aware of the challenges lying ahead. If we wish the ends, we must also wish the means. If we aim to sustain, enhance and promote Europe as a land of economic prosperity and social progress and as a fairer society of solidarity, freedom and democracy, we should then strive not only to improve our economic performance by implementing reforms, in line with the decisions taken at last month's Brussels summit - in the framework of what is called the "Lisbon strategy" - but to also safeguard our social solidarity.

If we aim for a democratic Europe that is more accountable to its citizens, we must strengthen the political and cultural bonds between our peoples, create resilient, workable, effective and transparent institutions which they can trust and identify with; what we need is a new, more unified political space, a real European demos.

Legitimacy is always a two-way traffic. In this context, it is not only imperative to reform and strike the right balance between the basic institutional structures of the Union but to also extend further qualified majority voting as well as use of the "flexibility" rules; and last but not least, to make sure that the European Commission and the European Parliament will play a pivotal and enhanced role within the new system of arrangements.

Today, the sorrow, the pity and the fog of war in Iraq casts a heavy shadow over our hearts. I deeply regret the loss of life, of combatants and civilians alike. I deeply regret the carnage and damage inflicted by war operations. It serves no useful purpose to paper over existing differences and disagreements within our ranks, no matter how regrettable they might be, particularly under present circumstances.

It was my duty and responsibility to search for common ground over the past difficult months, and during the remaining time of Greece's presidency I will spare no effort towards building a new trust and co-operation between us. We must stick to our decisions on Iraq's territorial integrity, on tackling humanitarian problems, on reviving the "road map" for stability and peace in the Middle East and in the wider area. We should make every effort to reinforce transatlantic dialogue and not let Europe-US ties slide further into a black hole.

We should not shy away from our responsibilities to hammer out a unified post-war strategy assigning a central role to the UN - which, if it did not exist, would have to be invented, now more than ever - in determining Iraq's reconstruction and political future. The recent unanimously approved UN resolution on the oil-for-food programme in Iraq is very encouraging. The UN must be restored as the focal point of legality and legitimacy in the international community. Multilateral diplomatic engagement is of the utmost importance. In the long term, nobody can rule the world on his own.

Rising to the challenges today demands farsightedness, political courage, specific goals and clear vision about our destiny. The moment of truth comes closer if the Union wants to have a stronger voice, if it wants to play an autonomous, independent and responsible role in managing world affairs on an equal footing with its allies in a multipolar world. Crucial decisions lie ahead. Let us seize this historical opportunity of enlargement to rise to the challenge. History will judge us.

Let us put Europe first.

Costas Simitis is Prime Minister of Greece, currently holding the Presidency of the European Council

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