Brussels, 20/06/2012 (Agence Europe) - It came as no surprise that MEPs at the European Parliament's civil liberties committee expressed their disappointment on Wednesday 20 June with the Danish Presidency of the Council and its acting president, the Danish minister for justice, Morten Bodskov.
MEPs examined the main features of progress accomplished by the Presidency but for the most part regretted that the current controversy regarding Schengen and reform of the evaluation mechanism had undermined the relatively positive collaboration that had hitherto existed between the EP and the Presidency of the Council. Speaking as a representative of the EPP, Simon Busuttil (Malta) said that the Danish Presidency could claim to have been successful in some areas of its mandate, which made this still more of a shame. The MEP added that this was not a simple divergence of opinion but illustrative of a more serious situation whereby the Council had trampled the Community method underfoot. The same tone was adopted by the S&D Group with Claude Moraes (UK) pointing out that the European Parliament would no longer negotiate Schengen until something changed with regard to this and until the question had been settled at a higher level, namely that of the European Council. Moraes described the situation as really damaging. Judith Sargentini (Greens/EFA, Netherlands) told the minister that MEPs had quite simply found the Danish Presidency “deeply disappointing”. She wants to know how relations could be re-established with the Council, given the current situation. Toeing his party line, Conservative MEP, Timothy Kirkhope (ECR, United Kingdom) reiterated his opposition to the EP decision to freeze a number of dossiers in the home affairs remit and deplored the unacceptable lack of courtesy displayed by EP political leaders who had not warned him that his report on the European PNR was also one of the dossiers that had been suspended. (SP/transl.fl)