Brussels, 20/06/2007
To be checked against delivery
Friends, a small group of us have just met the President of the Commission, President Barroso.
We told him straight
No Charter of Fundamental Rights, No Treaty
Sans la charte, pas de traité.
We told him too that if in a new Treaty the Summit drops the Charter; or if the Summit does not make the Charter binding on member states, then we say no, on dit non, wij zeggen nee, wir sagen nein, to that treaty.
And what's more, we will ask the European Parliament, national parliaments, and voters in any referendums, to vote no, non, nein, nee.
The Charter is not the only feature in which we are interested, but it is the most essential.
This Charter is our part of the Treaty. We marched for it at Nice. We marched again at Laeken. Eventually we succeeded. All 25 nations signed up in 2005 to a commitment to a fully binding charter in the constitutional treaty.
We say today - honour that commitment
We say today - don't cheat us
We say today - support fundamental rights
- to strike
- to negotiate
- to information and consultation
- to protection against unfair dismissal, for social security and for fair working conditions
Friends, this is the start, not the finish. We could be in for a long campaign. But today we signal our determination to win for Europe's workers. Today we signal - we will keep up the fight for just as long as it takes.
Thank you for your support. Keep it up.