Speech (extract) by Roy Jenkins

Speech (extract) by Roy Jenkins

‘The new Europe has not yet matched her wealth by her inspiration or her influence in the world. […] It is whether Western Europe—now emerging as the richest and most powerful trading bloc—can make the rest of the world, and particularly that part of it where poverty is still so grinding as to make mockery of human existence, feel that our success is the ally and not the enemy of their advance. If we can do this, if we can make European unity an accepted force not only for European but for world progress, then we shall indeed be fulfilling a new leadership role. […] Let us face our political problems together, and let us ensure the harmonization of European policies and not merely the harmonization of European trade. It is fundamental to our purposes that this must be fully compatible with representative democracy. It therefore involves a greatly strengthened European Parliament.’