Here are some of the essential passages in Michel Rocard's declarations:
"If the Europe of today is not the one of our dreams, it does possess some fantastic virtues, which we should not forgot. Its two legal bases - human rights and the right of competition and free trade - are the best in the world. This collective area underpinned by law makes violence an impossibility and compels conflict to be resolved through negotiation etc. It's fabulous. Laws produced by Europe are the only way to resist the American empire. We are at a cross roads of our civilisation and I am sad that my country is not more worried about it. The European election campaign in France has to be founded on a simple truth: the European adventure brings peace and economic progress, it has to be continued. Social protection and the defence of public services in it are the best in the world, although the guarantees in the constitution are insufficient.
In a reference to the tendencies in the PS and the rejection of the draft constitution, Michel Rocard declared, "It's nonsense and I regret it. To adopt the constitution proposed by the Convention is to provide the rules of the game. These are neutral. Certainly, the text affirms free trade but this was already in the Treaty of Rome in 1957. And the draft also affirms the need for social protection for all and public services of quality. It's a lie to pretend the opposite is true. Some socialists are displaying a perfidious and dangerous lack of intelligence, which beggars belief. All the great figures of socialism are founders of the European project: Alain Savary, rapporteur of the Treaty of Rome, François Mitterand, whose action on this point was decisive. Jacques Delors, the best builder. If we put a spanner in the works from the outset, there will be a generalised watering down.