Strasbourg, 15/12/2000 (Agence Europe) - The "European Constitution" Intergroup, which gathers together more than 130 MEPs from all the political groups, has, during its meeting this week in Strasbourg, felt that the Nice Treaty is "not only unsatisfactory and insufficient, but also in the crucial fields it is "a major obstacle to the EU's ability to act". The system adopted for the qualified majority vote in the Council "will be difficult to practice", felt the MEPs members of the Intergroup. According to them, "the new Treaty means a step back compared to the present Treaties, as it is marked in particular by a "return of power to the national governments" and a "increased marginalisation of the Commission and Parliament", which weakens the Community method and strengthens the democratic deficit.
The Intergroup indicates that it agreed on a strategy aiming to "immediately take all the initiatives possible within the European Parliament and in close cooperation with the national Parliaments in order to allow for the opening as quickly as possible of a drafting process for a European Constitution based upon the Convention method".