Brussels, 17/10/2000 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament's Committee on Constitutional Affairs adopted two reports setting forth its position on two issues discussed at the IGC or on the sidelines of the IGC - enhanced cooperations and the "consitutionalisation" of the Treaties (the Parliament, which took a stance on institutional reform in progress by adopting the Dimitrakopoulos/Leinen report, is also preparing a report by the same MEPs on the subject of the composition of the European Parliament in an enlarged Europe).
With the adoption (by 18 to 2 and 3 abstentions) of the report by Partido Popular member José Maria Gil-Robles, the constitutional committee stressed that enhanced cooperation must be developed in the context of the Treaty, with the full participation of all the members of the EP and of the European Commission. It could also developed in foreign, security and defence policy, but should not be allowed where the Treaty provides for qualified majority decision making. Furthermore, according to MEPs: - enhanced cooperation is possible only if at least one third of Member States takes part; - no veto can be placed on the triggering off of this mechanism, which must be approved by the Council at qualified majority, after the Commission's proposal and EP assent; - the Treaty must specify the conditions in which other States would join in enhanced cooperation later.
With the adoption (by 18 to 2 and 6 abstentions) of the report by French Socialist Olivier Duhamel, the constitutional committee proposed constitutionalisation of the treaties in two stages. Thus:
The first stage would consist in recasting the Treaties (without amendments to substance) in order to make them simpler and more comprehensible. The European Council of Nice could give the Council a mandate to adopt a single framework Treaty on a Commission proposal and after consultation with the Court of Justice and assent from the European Parliament, as well as approval by national parliaments. The Treaty would be short and readable and would only set forth the basic provisions of a constitutional nature - aims of the Union, protection of fundamental rights, citizenship, sharing of powers and institutional issues - while the other provisions, including those on common policies, would appear in the Protocols.
The second stage would be aimed at the adoption of a Treaty containing all the characteristic elements of a real Constitution. The European Council of Nice should launch the process for drafting this text, by defining the mandate, the procedures and the timetable for drafting this Constitution. The text would give the common values and the fundamental rights (the Charter of Fundamental Rights could be the first chapter of this Constitution), the finalities of European integration, the composition and the role and functioning of the institutions, the breakdown of powers, subsidiarity and the role of European political parties. Procedure would be based on that for the Convention, which adopted the Charter of Fundamental Rights, whereas, for the timetable, the Duhamel Report proposes that the Convention should have one year at most to elaborate a preliminary draft for the Constitution, which would be submitted not only to EP assent but also to a simultaneous referendum in all Member States that have chosen this kind of ratification, so that the Constitution is adopted before the European elections in June 2004.
The report stresses, in order to take eventual fears by candidate countries into account, that this process of constitutionalisation should not in any case be a pretext for delaying or blocking accession negotiations, and that the applicant countries should take part in the work of the Convention.