Brussels, 27/02/2001 (Agence Europe) - At the time when the negotiators of the Fifteen were signing the new EU Treaty in Nice (see above), several MEPs reiterated their disaffection with the results of the reform, and the President of the EPP/ED Group, Hans-Gert Poettering and German Social-Democrat Jo Leinen (President of the Union of European Federalists) raised the link that Parliament should make, in its assessment of the Treaty of Nice, between its "yes" vote and adequate undertakings by governments regarding the post-Nice process.
Thus, Hans-Gert Poettering repeated that his group's final decision on the Treaty of Nice would depend on satisfactory progress in the Post-Nice process, and placed emphasis on the convening, in 2002, of a body in which would be represented the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Council, as well as national governments and parliaments. Poettering pleaded especially in favour of a clear distribution of competencies between the EU and Member States, as well as stating that in future the results of European elections would have to be reflected in the composition of the European Commission.
As for Jo Leinen, he urged the EU heads of state and government to clarify the method and brief of the post-Nice process and, regarding the method, spoke in favour of the convening of a Convention in which the European Parliament and national parliaments would participate on an equal footing. The brief should cover the distribution of powers between the EU and Member States, as well as between European institutions, and provide for a "constitutional treaty", he added.
"Governments have acknowledged the weaknesses of the treaty. There is still time to improve it in essential aspects", said, for his part, the CDU member of the EP Elmar Brok (who, with Dimitris Tstasos, represented the EP in the IGC that negotiated the Treat of Nice). Brok especially criticised the new rules on the weighting of votes in Council. "A model comprising a triple majority will de facto lead to unanimity", he deplored (alluding to the need, to achieve a qualified majority, to secure at least 258 votes and that these votes expressed a vote in favour by a majority of members, and the possibility for a member of the Council to ask to check that the Member States making up this qualified majority represented at least 62% of the Union's total population). But the most scathing criticisms were on the too limited extension of qualified majority voting: the IGC demonstrated the "national egoism" of Member States, and the ensuing European democratic deficit, he concluded.