In its adoption, on Thursday 8 December, of two reports on the institutional future of the European Union, the committee on institutional affairs of the European Parliament firstly lists the initiatives to be taken, involving no changes to the treaty, to improve the functioning of the European institutions and, secondly, considers a rationalisation of the Eurozone-centric institutional architecture, which would require a revision of the Treaties.
The two reports, which overlap in places, do not constitute a knee-jerk reaction to what the EU of 27 member states might look like after Brexit, as drafting work on them began well before the British referendum in which those in favour of the United Kingdom leaving the EU came out on top. From the Greek crisis to the refugee crisis, our citizens couldn't help but notice the powerlessness and even the futility of Europe. Brexit offers the opportunity to redefine our Europe, its projects, how it functions, said the President of the Liberal group, Belgium's Guy Verhofstadt, author of the report on the reform of the European treaties, in a press release.
The report by Mercedes Bresso (S&D, Italy) and Elmar Brok (EPP, Germany), two leaders of the Union of European Federalists, identifies areas in which European integration under the treaties as they stand would have genuine added value. "Large steps towards an Energy Union, a Defence Union, democratic governance in the Eurozone, a new policy for immigration and development and, above all, a robust social union are possible under the current treaties", Bresso said.
In the economic and monetary field, the MEPs stressed that the euro is the single currency of the Union. They call for the establishment of a convergence code, which would constitute a more binding framework for budgetary surveillance and coordination of economic policies. A genuine budgetary capacity - within the EU budget - should also be set in place to help the Eurozone countries, under certain conditions, to reform and to face any crises. This subject is dealt with in a draft report written jointly by Pervenche Berès (S&D, France) and Reimer Böge (EPP, Germany), which will be put to a vote of the competent parliamentary committees in January. Additionally, a European finance minister with the title of Vice-President of the Commission would combine the duties of President of the Eurogroup and Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs. Verhofstadt went on to stress that under this institutional architecture, only MEPs of Eurozone countries would be able to take position on issues relating to the Eurozone.
To put the Council of the EU and the Parliament, the two-co-legislating institutions, on a truly equal footing, the MEPs call for the EP to be given full budgetary powers. As with the functioning of Parliament, a single formation of the Council would make decisions in all areas on the basis of the preparatory work of sectorial Councils. Most of the time, the member states would make their decisions by qualified majority.
Single seat of the European Parliament
The MEPs call for a single seat to be established for the Parliament, without stating explicitly whether this seat should be in Strasbourg or Brussels. However, this position has led to reactions from French MEPs from across the political spectrum, who see it as a direct attack on the city of Strasbourg. With a last-minute compromise, Verhofstadt has tried to use an act of force by including the amendment by the 'anti-Strasbourg' camp, calling for the Parliament to have the right to decide on its seat itself, said Constance le Grip, Jérôme Lavrilleux and Anne Sander of the EPP group.
Among the French MEPs, the position in favour of a single seat for Parliament is supported by Sylvie Goulard, who feels that the uncompromising French stance is indefensible in the long term, as the newer generations of Europeans do not have the same vision of Strasbourg as a symbol of Franco-German reconciliation after the Second World War. The French Liberal, whose amendment, which ended up being rejected, aimed to leave a period of 10 years between the decision in favour of a single seat and its application, recommended using the budget of 200 million of the current Strasbourg seat to make it into a permanent centre for exchanges and reflection on European issues.
The 'Bresso/Brok', 'Verhofstadt' and 'Berès/Böge' reports will be discussed and adopted at the February plenary session of the Parliament. They will constitute the MEPs' contribution to the celebrations to mark the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, to be held in the Italian capital at the end of March 2017. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)