Brussels, 01/09/2000 (Agence Europe) - The work of the Intergovernmental Conference on EU institutional reform will resume on Monday 4 September in Brussels with a meeting of the Preparatory Group, which will be devoted to enhanced cooperation and the extension of qualified majority to the Council.
We recall that the ministerial conclave of 24 July, which had already tackled the theme of enhanced cooperation, had confirmed the divergence still remaining between Member States over this issue (see EUROPE of 26 July, p.3). For the July conclave, the French Presidency had presented a note in which it raised a series of questions, for example:
- Enhanced cooperation as already covered in Article 43 of the EU Treaty must aim to "promote the realisation of Union objectives and (…) safeguard and (…) serve its interests". Could one not go further and point out that these enhanced cooperations are an instrument of integration? Should one not provide for a "catch up mechanism" for each enhanced cooperation specifying above all the transparent and non-discriminatory conditions for opening to all Member States, including the new members?
- Should, as some delegations propose, one "set to one side enhanced cooperations mainly affecting normative activities linked to the functioning of the interior market (…), highly integrated common policies and economic and social cohesion, which could be subject to stricter conditions?" Could one then distinguish between enhanced cooperations concerning activities "at the centre of the integration process" and those covering "less integrated activities", and foresee differentiated employment conditions for these two categories?
- Should one provide for enhanced cooperations in the CFSP field? Should the means for approval of these enhanced cooperations be qualified majority (as for the first and the third pillar) or unanimity (as proposed by the Spanish document presented to the IGC?) Can one follow through the idea put forward by several delegations to introduce a specific cooperation clause for CFSP, through, for ex ample, a protocol annexed to the Treaty?
- Should a possible clause for conformity with Union objectives" be studied in the Treaty, allowing, under certain conditions, certain cooperations which aim to contribute to the realisation of Union goals but which are outside the institutions (like, at present, certain cooperations in defence and armaments) to be anchored in the Treaty?.