Brussels, 08/12/2011 (Agence Europe) - The conference of presidents of the European Parliament (a meeting of the heads of all the political groups at the EP and the president of the EP) in Brussels on Thursday 8 December revealed a degree of scepticism about the need to change the EU Treaty to get Europe out of crisis, but as suggested changes to the Treaty are already on the negotiating table for the EU's leaders, most of the group leaders called for the changes to be made by all 27 member states according to the rules set out in the Treaty itself. The MEPs are keen to defend unity in the EU and respect of the Community method.
Most MEPs tend to back the ideas set out in the interim report of Herman Van Rompuy, the president of the European Council, rather than those mooted by Merkozy. The conference of presidents' meeting gave instructions to the EP president, Jerzy Buzek, who will be joining the EU heads of state for talks on Friday.
The MEPs took note of the changes to Protocol 12 on excessive deficits suggested by Van Rompuy, which are quite easy to adapt. Otherwise, the conference of presidents believes that any changes should be made under Article 48, which allows the involvement of the EP and national parliaments in the process: “If the European Council, after consulting the European Parliament and the Commission, adopts by a simple majority a decision in favour of examining the proposed amendments, the president of the European Council shall convene a Convention composed of representatives of the national parliaments, of the heads of state or government of the member states, of the European Parliament and of the Commission.”
The MEPs added: “The European Council may decide by a simple majority, after obtaining the consent of the European Parliament, not to convene a Convention should this not be justified by the extent of the proposed amendments. In the latter case, the European Council shall define the terms of reference for a conference of representatives of the governments of the member states.”
A special meeting of the EP conference of presidents will be held in Strasbourg at 5.30pm on Monday 12 December to make an initial assessment of the outcome of the European summit of 9 December and to prepare for the debate in plenary on Tuesday 13 December. (LC/transl.fl)