Brussels, 29/06/2011 (Agence Europe) - In a press release issued on Wednesday, the co-leaders of the Greens/EFA Group, Daniel Cohn-Bendit and Rebecca Harms, complained that “a number of member states are trying to exclude the EP from the decision-making procedure” over the announced reform of the Schengen area, scheduled for the month of September, and which will contain the option of bringing back internal border controls. The two leaders spoke of “negotiations behind the scenes”, looking for a legal basis which will not involve the EP. The Council has not so far confirmed this, with one source stating that there are not currently any discussions to this end, or any by certain delegations, such as France, which states that it is the “Commission which will make a proposal” and affirms that the basis retained will indeed be “co-decision”. Over at the Commission, there are no denials of the existence of preliminary discussions over the legal basis, but these are still in their early stages. It is also noted that the competent commissioner, Cecilia Malmström, has always pledged that she wanted a Community system. Daniel Cohn-Bendit said that “any attempt to bypass the Parliament would be scandalous”, a “declaration of war on the EP” and an “eviction” of the assembly from the decision-making process which could, he argued, be due to the fact that the Council was well aware that “it will be hard to obtain a majority” to get the reform through. In any case, the Greens are planning to put this question on the agenda of the forthcoming parliamentary session (on 4 -7 July) and call on the principal political groups to defend the rights of the Parliament, “which, on the basis of the Treaty, has co-decision powers in this field”, the two MEPs continue in their press release. (S.P./transl.fl)