Greek view of EU Reform Treaty

The following is from a statement issued by the Greek Embassy in the US, linked here. GREECE SUPPORTS EU REFORM TREATY Addressing the Greek Parliament's Foreign and European Affairs Committee on July 5, Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis discussed the new European Union Reform Treaty which was decided at the EU summit meeting of June 21-22. Greece, she said, had played a leading role in gathering a group of EU countries which gave the German presidency the ability to construct a difficult but acceptable compromise. The result, Ms. Bakoyannis said, was a new treaty which preserves the essence of the abandoned constitutional treaty. It may not have incorporated the charter of fundamental rights, but it ensured the binding power of its provisions. The title of “EU foreign minister” may have been lost, but the powers remain. Similarly, the reform treaty preserved the Constitution's proposed provisions for coordinated action on issues such as those affecting island regions and tourism and affirmed Europe's ground-breaking decisions on climate change while ensuring the cooperation of member-states on energy issues. The foreign minister spoke also of Greece at the core of countries which favor “enhanced and unconditional cooperation” to achieve further political convergence within the EU. And she also referred favorably to the Reform Treaty's provision for a more potent role for national parliaments.