Brussels, 14/01/2015 (Agence Europe) - The working programme of the European Commission for the year 2015 has made waves within the political groups of the EP, which were unable, in the afternoon of Wednesday 14 January, to agree on a common resolution to be put to the vote of the EP the following day.
The EPP was to present a joint resolution with the group. As for the other groups, they were preparing individual resolutions.
“It's absolutely ridiculous, we're going to end up in a situation where no resolution can get through”, said an EPP source. This group blames the Social Democrats, “who wanted a Christmas tree with lots of baubles on it” and that led to a “10-page resolution”. From the very beginning, the EPP has not been in favour of a resolution of this kind, which has “no legal value and will change nothing, whether or not you like the working programme”. Symbolically, however, it shows a certain degree of frustration among the forces which supported the Juncker Commission.
The Social Democrats are struggling with the announcements made by Frans Timmermans in December of last year on the withdrawal of the proposals on air quality and the circular economy, as well as the fact that the maternity leave directive has been shelved temporarily. The Greens/EFA group rejects this environmentally harmful orientation en masse. As for the Liberals, they were “prepared to join in with a common resolution”, but the “EPP wanted it to be just to welcome the proposal presented in December and nothing more”, according to a group source. “As for the S&D and the Greens, they wanted to put back the texts which were withdrawn in December and so, to an extent, did we”, said the ALDE group. The upshot is that if no resolution is likely to be passed, “we will ask not to vote because it would be really ridiculous if no text got through”, this Liberal source added, particularly as the idea of taking position on the working programme was supported at the December session. However, the EPP should “reject our request and try to push through its resolution with the ECR”. For its part, the Commission said on Wednesday that the proposals on air quality would not be withdrawn, but changed to reflect the negotiations currently underway. (SP)