THE TAOISEACH paid warm tribute to the Italian Presidency in a speech to EU leaders wrapping up the summit.
Wearing the hat of the incoming President of the Council, Mr Bruton, reminded the meeting of the enormous domestic pressures faced by the Italians during their term. They had displayed a great degree of professionalism, he said.
With the important assistance of the Commission they had succeeded in overcoming a potential political crisis over beef. The lesson of the dispute was that the community method, the union's own form of decision making, had worked successfully in the end.
As they looked ahead, he said, they should do so as political leaders. Europe was a political endeavour, not a technocratic one.
In the IGC they could show that the union was more than meaningless acronyms; it was an organisation set up to meet the needs of citizens.
Europe, he said, was about peace, secure jobs, sound money, and safe streets. "This is the vision that must inspire us in all we do."
