'Wreckers' want EU gridlock - MEP

Glenys Kinnock was first elected to the European Parliament in 1994

In the latest in the BBC Wales regeneration public lecture series, Labour MEP Glenys Kinnock examines the challenges ahead for Wales in Europe.

It seems like only yesterday when fellow Labour MEP Eluned Morgan and I were tearing from one meeting to another to work on the possibility of Objective 1 funding coming to Wales.

And now after 2, 000 projects approved, £1bn committed, and 40,000 jobs created the finishing line is already looming for the massive and unprecedented

European funding programmes. Now Wales is again facing an anxious wait on whether we will receive European structural funds.

The next 12 months will be crucial in deciding the future of regional policy.

There will be an agreement on the future budget of the EU and structural funds regulations by the end of 2005, and consequently we will know what kind of funding support Wales will receive after 2006.

Alongside this debate, the renegotiation of regional aid in the EU will affect how easy it will be for the assembly to support new businesses setting up in Wales.

The creation and development of the union has been a historic achievement, bringing more than half a century of peace and prosperity Glenys Kinnock

The over-arching theme over the next two years however, is likely to be the continuing battle between the reformers and the wreckers, as we prepare for a referendum on the constitutional treaty.

In last week's European Parliament debate Labour MEPs lined up with the large majority of MEPs from all 25 countries of the union in backing the constitution. We recognise this as an important reform that will make the EU more effective in delivering real benefits to the citizens of Europe.

Tories and UKIP members oppose the constitution, using this as another opportunity to demonstrate their hostility to Europe, which they do at every turn. They oppose reform. They have a vested interest in gridlock in Europe and if they get their way Britain will be isolated in Europe.

Mrs Kinnock says a new constitution will make the EU more effective

The creation and development of the union has been a historic achievement, bringing more than half a century of peace and prosperity to a continent that was blighted by centuries of often bloody conflict.

Citizen-friendly

We are all aware that this historic development had a downside. The piecemeal nature of the growth left us with a messy tangle of treaties. This had to be tackled, not only to make the union more efficient and effective - but also to make it more democratic and citizen-friendly.

To the wreckers the bureaucratic deficiencies were a godsend. They allowed them to portray the union as the enemy of the people of Europe, despite the mountains of evidence that membership of the union has brought great progress for ordinary people.

With the new constitution we are taking that weapon away from them - that is why they are kicking and screaming and running more of the scare stories in which they specialise.

The new constitution will undoubtedly make the union and its institutions more effective.

It is a single, readable document. It's a simple set of rules spelling out the objectives of the EU. People will be able to see clearly what are its powers and their limits, how policy is developed and implemented and how the union relates to the government of their own country.

Politicians on both sides of the debate admit that they do not know where a "no" vote would put us. Maybe not out of Europe, but on the margins for sure.

And when we have 155,000 people in Wales whose jobs depend on trade with the EU, and over 600 Welsh businesses trading with the EU every month, it is clear that we don't belong on the margins.

We need to be in the thick of things helping to shape a brighter, safer and more prosperous Europe.