Brussels, 15/05/2000 (Agence Europe) - If the current Intergovernmental Conference on institutional reform does not result in consolidation of EU integration, the Belgian parliament will not ratify the results of the IGC. As we have pointed out before, this is the warning made on Friday by Armand De Decker, President of the Belgian Senate, who pointed out that he had warned certain ambassadors - British in particular - of this change taking place within the Belgian parliament. In his view, a resolution along these lines could be approved in coming weeks.
During a press conference with a small group of journalists, Mr De Decker went back on his proposal to create a "Commission for European Union Defence" (see EUROPE of 7 April, p.3). Mr De Decker proposes that, in order to create European Union Defence, one should not go "as far as the EDC" (European Defence Community), but rather create a "European Union Defence Commission which would be the body for proposal, implementation and management, namely, the driving force for implementation of all defence-related economic, industrial, technological, scientific and space programmes". In his view, this "new Community body could emanate from the European Commission", with a vice-president at its head who would coordinate the work of the Commissioners concerned. The task of crisis-management and implementation of European forces would remain "solely under the authority of the Council of Ministers, at intergovernmental level". In his view, a EUD created on these bases would make it possible, "with the free choice of countries wishing to take part" (Mr De Decker hopes there will be fifteen) to "reduce financial waste from national defence budgets", and, in time, allow the "establishment of an effective and independent common European defence". For Mr De Decker, former President of the WEU Assembly Defence Commission, such evolution is possible as the EU has the legal capacity to act in the defence field because of the inclusion, at this stage already, of the Petersberg missions. Mr De Decker considers Article 5 of the WEU Treaty (mutual assistance) should be included in the EU Treaty through a Protocol, which would allow the WEU to be dissolved, while democratic control could be exercised by an UED Parliamentary Assembly within which MEPs could hold seats alongside national MEPs (we recall that the WEU Assembly has approved proposals along these lines).