I anförandet under onsdagen i Strasbourg konstaterade Hökmark också att demokrati och respekt måste prägla vägen fram. Det gällande Nicefördraget räcker dock inte hela vägen om vi vill se en fortsatt utvidgning, bättre tillväxt och en utveckling mot friare marknader och andra gemensamma framsteg.
Läs anförandet nedan:
Gunnar Hökmark (EPP-ED). Mr President, allow yourself to think: if the Irish had voted yes, does anyone here believe that our green T-shirts would have had the text Respect the Irish vote? The truth is that they neither respect the Irish, nor democracy. They only respect a no, and that is quite unique.
When Sweden entered the European Union, there were 12 Member States. That was in 1995. Today there are 27 Member States. That is quite a change, and I think very few can question that Europe has become much, much better thanks to this enlargement and the magnitude of development. We can say today, when we are discussing the Irish referendum, that those who were saying no all the time were wrong all the time, and we who advocated a future development of the European Union have been proved to be right.
So let us proceed in the same way in which we have achieved those results, with persistence, vision, democracy and respect for each Member State. Let us proceed with democracy in each Member State with a ratification process, but also respect the decision of each Member State, while remembering our determination. We need to go further regarding the energy market, the internal market and how to achieve better results in all areas, but also to understand that the Nice Treaty is not enough if we are to proceed with the same development and the same visions with which we have achieved so much. So let us proceed and let us be the Europe that says yes. Let us remember that the no people have achieved nothing in this Europe.