Bruges, 17/11/2000 (Agence Europe) - At the end of last week, Finnish Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen, in a speech given at the College of Europe in Bruges, had reaffirmed that one Commissioner per Member State is the "only feasible solution at this stage of EU development". In his view, a "smaller Commission without a German or French Commissioner would in fact weaken the Commission" but one should recognise that, for a "far larger Commission than now, we must seek innovative alternatives". Furthermore, Mr Lipponen (for whom the EU must be willing to take in new members in 2003), felt that the key to enlargement is "an ambitious extension of qualified majority vote" and that "it will be difficult to call the Treaty of Nice a success if we do not make progress on trade questions, visas, asylum and immigration, certain tax provisions, environmental issues and social policy".
Regarding the "after Nice" period, Mr Lipponen declared that it would be necessary, in Nice, to "define an agenda for the future". He specified: "The agenda that I propose is limited and it is important that we leave it open. My suggestion is that it should deal with at least the following questions: 1) legal statute of fundamental rights; 2) political guidelines on breakdown of powers; 3) restructuring of the treaties; 4) review of institutional balance; 5) and the principle of good governance. The agenda should also comprise provisions aimed at strengthening the EU as an international actor. According to Mr Lipponen, the Swedish and Belgian presidencies, next year, "could prepare a preliminary timetable and establish a certain number of clear working methods".