Brussels, 28/04/2000 (Agence Europe) - The Preparatory Group for the Intergovernmental Conference on institutional reform chaired by Portuguese Secretary of State for European Affairs, Francisco de Seixas Costa, is to hold its next meeting on Tuesday 2 May in Brussels with, on the agenda yet again, the possible extension of qualified majority voting in the EU Council.
Positions have moved slightly at the IGC on this theme unlike deliberations on the other "Amsterdam leftovers": the composition of the European Commission and the weighting of votes in Council. We recall that, on this issue, documents were presented by the Portuguese Presidency (see EUROPE of 25 February, p.3), the European Commission (concerning certain aspects of taxation and social security, see EUROPE of 16 March, pages 5 and 6), Italy (which is in favour of an "exclusion" method, whereby the qualified majority would be the rule and unanimity the exception: see EUROPE of 3 and 4 April, p.7). IGC discussions at ministerial level confirmed that the majority of the Member States hope for a pragmatic approach, examining the possible extension of qualified majority by decision-making categories (see EUROPE of 10/11 April, p.6 and also declarations by the French Permanent Representative Pierre Vimont, in EUROPE of 19 April, p.4).