Brussels, 02/09/2010 (Agence Europe) - The head of the Socialist Group (S&D) at the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, announced the end of the MEPs' summer break on Thursday 2 September at a press conference at which he attacked the president of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, over his management of the Roma business in France and the taxation of financial transactions in the EU. The German MEP also criticised the institutional balance that the Lisbon Treaty has established, in his view, in favour of a European Council “dominated by Merkel/Sarkozy”.
Roma. Martin Schulz started by criticising the “unacceptable” deportations of Roma from France. Justifying the deportation of an entire community because of crimes that some of its members are alleged to have committed is simply rabble-rousing, explained Schulz, claiming that this was a “manœuvre” by Nicolas Sarkozy to simply distract public opinion from the problems facing the government and to help the president win back some popularity in the opinion polls in France. The head of the socialists at the EP then attacked Barroso, whom he will be interrogating on the subject next week in a debate scheduled for the EP's plenary session in Strasbourg, saying that he hoped that Barroso's silence did not mean that he agreed with what was going on in France. Schulz said Barroso has to explain his silence. Schulz pointed out that no fewer than three EU commissioners - Viviane Reding (justice and fundamental rights), Cecilia Malmström (home affairs) and László Andor (social affairs and inclusion) - share power and responsibility over the question of Roma integration in the EU. Given this scattering of powers, it is the president of the Commission himself who should take things in hand and check whether EU law has been respected, explained Schulz. If the Commission finds that EU laws have been violated, then it must launch infringement proceedings against France, he added, and it must publish its investigation.
Financial transaction tax. During the general debate on the “state of the Union” in plenary next week, Schulz wants to ask Barroso about whether the Commission wants to propose a tax on financial transactions in the EU (the European Council has instructed the Commission to look into the issue). In July 2010, EU Taxation Commissioner Algirdas Šemeta said he was sceptical about the likelihood of reaching agreement among all 27 member states over the introduction of such a tax. In the German media, he argued that a tax on financial institutions could damage the competitiveness of the financial industry in the European Union if it were not also applied everywhere else in the world. Schulz said it seemed clear that the commissioner himself opposes such a tax and the MEP said he wanted to know from Barroso whether Šemeta's opinion is the same as that of the Commission as a whole. If so, this would be a genuine declaration of war against the socialists, said Schultz. The European Socialist Party (PES) is already preparing its response if the Commission and the member states decide to drop the idea of a tax on financial transactions. If they did, then European socialists would launch a citizens' initiative on the matter “without delay”. The new citizens' initiative instrument introduced by the Lisbon Treaty is expected to be operational in January 2011.
Role of the European Council. The head of the Socialist Group observed “with great concern” that the European Council, which has become an EU institution under the Lisbon Treaty, is acquiring ever more powers and dictating the European agenda (the Commission's role being reduced to a merely executive role). What is more, the European Council has become a two-tier club (a Zweiklassengesellschaft) “with Merkel and Sarkozy on one level, and all the others on the lower level. That is certainly not the way we see Europe”,'explained Schulz, calling on Barroso to take on the role that is supposed to be the Commission's, that of being the engine of integration. (H.B./transl.fl)