Brussels, 14/02/2000 (Agence Europe) - The Intergovernmental Conference on institutional reform, that will prepare the European Union for an unprecedented enlargement, opened on Monday 14 February in Brussels with a meeting that was essentially formal in nature, chaired by Portugal's Foreign Minister Jaime Gama and with the participation of Member States' Foreign Ministers, European Commission President Romano Prodi accompanied by Commissioner Michel Barnier and European Parliament President Nicole Fontaine, accompanied by Parliament's two representatives to the IGC, Elmar Brok and Dimitri Tsatsos. On Tuesday evening, work was continuing in the preparatory group chaired by Portugal's State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Francisco Seixas da Costa (see EUROPE of 11 February, page 4).
Fontaine: Parliament calls for future Charter of Fundamental Rights
to be integrated into the Treaty
The European Parliament "expects boldness and readability" from the Conference, remarked Nicole Fontaine, noting that, if prior to Maastricht and Amsterdam, "greater account had been given to what some were calling then the European Parliament's 'utopia', we would not be trying to square the circle today, on the eve of enlargement of the Union". According to the EP President, "political Europe has taken its first steps and is upsetting our institutional habits", further to two fundamental "'transgressions' in the noblest sense of the term", which have had considerable repercussions, the single currency and the Kosovo tragedy, and also thanks to the "rise in power" of European public opinion. "One of the strong points of this new collective European conscience is its ethical vision of Europe", she said, mentioning the voices raised "to warn our Austrian friends of the dangerous path down which they could be headed", and affirming that the IGC "cannot ignore or minimise this powerful movement of a Europe of men and moral values". In this spirit, she said, "the European Parliament asks that the Charter we are developing in cooperation with the national parliaments be integrated into the new treaty. (…) This Charter must take on the strength of pre-eminent law, guaranteeing in all States, whether members of the Union or applicants for accession, respect for our common values".
Mrs Fontaine also asserted that: - the IGC must establish "differentiated arrangements for adaptation of the Treaties once the Union has enlarged and will legislate for half a billion men and women". "Now is the time to establish a hierarchy of texts, making a distinction between constitutional principles and implementing provisions and consequently establishing differentiated procedures with a view to the adaptations that will inevitably be needed in the future", she added; - at present, with the exception of suspension of voting rights in the Council in cases of serious and persistent violation by a Member State of the fundamental principles of the Union, the Treaties offer "no possibility" for excluding this Member State or for it to leave the Union; but in the event of a serious and sustained crisis, there would be an "absolute impasse" and therefore, in a "very enlarged Europe, this eventuality must be debated" (answering a question, Mrs Fontaine said Mr Barnier's idea of adding a new paragraph to Article 7 on a "diplomatic surveillance" procedure was a "very good suggestion": see below); - the IGC must improve the system of enhanced cooperation, making it more flexible while respecting Parliament's prerogatives. All these examples demonstrate that the IGC "can have only one great ambition, which should be reflected in a form of constitutionalisation of the Treaties", said Mrs Fontaine. She also insisted on: - extension of qualified majority to "almost all legislative acts" (Parliament, in exchange, will be more open to a clearer distinction between what comes within the legislative domain and what does not); - extension of the principle of codecision to a number of questions that come under the second and third pillars.
At her press conference, Mrs Fontaine, who was accompanied (as at the IGC) by EP representatives Elmar Brok and Dimitri Tsatsos, said that Portuguese Prime Minister Jaime Gama had offered assurances that the European Parliament would be closely involved in the work of the Conference (it will be recalled that Mr Gama also told the EP that he was prepared to appear before the plenary to provide explanations on the negotiations, Ed.). Asked about the concerns of accession applicant countries, which have on the whole called for a conference limited to the three Amsterdam leftovers, Mrs Fontaine stated that these countries would be "convinced that there are other subjects it is imperative to address".
Romano Prodi: "With 28 members, any areas that are still decided by unanimity will be condemned to stagnation"
In his remarks at the opening of the IGC (see also below, for Michel Barnier's press conference), European Commission President Romano Prodi exclaimed once again in reference to this new institutional reform: "We must not think -even for a moment- that this is just the beginning of reform and that there will no doubt be other institutional reforms after this one. Look at the decisions on the enlargement process taken at Helsinki and look at the timetable before us. I see no room for a second IGC. We cannot countenance any leftovers from Nice." Observing that the European Commission is firmly set on internal reforms and that it will operate effectively and democratically with 27 or 28 members, Mr Prodi repeated that the expansion from 15 to 28 members could not be done simply by "patching things up". He noted: "I genuinely believe that, with 28 members, any areas that are still decided by unanimity will be condemned to stagnation." So ambition is needed, but "we must also be modest, as on certain issues we are still discovering the problems we face". He noted that he felt "debate is just beginning" on: - enhanced cooperation; - consolidation of the common foreign and security policy into a European security and defence policy (see below the important decisions taken at Monday's Council on the creation of interim bodies charged with security and defence policy; - the necessity of keeping the "Treaty becoming fossilised after our Conference if we keep the requirement that amendments can be made only with the agreement of 28 governments, 28 national parliaments and referendums".
In an interview with the BBC on Monday in Brussels, Foreign Secretary Robin Cook, answering questions on the IGC, pointed out that the United Kingdom has made it clear that "the national veto on taxation and social security, border controls, defence must remain". And he added: "There is already majority voting on 80% of the decisions that we take. There may be one or two cases where it would be in Britain's interest to see that increased (…). Majority voting might help us to get some reforms that would help Britain."