THE President of the European Parliament, Mr Klaus Hansch, yesterday welcomed the draft treaty proposed by the Irish presidency, but warned that popular enthusiasm for the EU was waning.
In his final address as President to the European Council before he retires next year, Mr Hansch also called for more action on social policy and foreign affairs.
He said there were "many reasons" for the lack of enthusiasm for the EU. "One of the most important is that the Union gives a thousand different answers to a thousand different questions, but remains silent on the major issues that European society faces at the end of this century."
Mr Hansch welcomed proposals to extend majority voting and to enhance the position of the European Parliament, but he described the proposals on foreign and security policy as disappointing.
"When it comes to war and peace in Europe, when it comes to protecting people against murder and expulsion and rape here in our own continent at least, when it comes to enforcing the basic values of our European way of life for all Europeans, more must be heard from the member states in the future than a babel of languages, and more than an embarrassed silence from the Union."
Speaking to a German newspaper yesterday, he was sceptical about the suggestion by the French President, Mr Jacques Chirac, that some Eastern and Central European states might, join the EU before the end of the century. "Enlargement can hardly be achieved before 2002," he said.
