Brussels, 08/05/2001 (Agence Europe) - As we previously indicated, the European Parliament's Constitutional Affairs Committee adopted last week the draft resolution by the Partido Popular member Inigo Mendez de Vigo and the Portuguese Socialist Antonio Jose Seguro on the Treaty of Nice and the future of Europe, which will be voted during the plenary on 30 and 31 May in Brussels. The resolution was adopted by 22 yes, 4 no (the "Eurosceptics" Georges Berthu, Jens-Peter Bonde and Jose Ribeiro e Castro, as well as the Austrian member for the Socialist group Hans-Peter Martin) and 2 abstentions (from Hanja Maij-Weggen and Marielle de Sarnez, from the EPP group). Through its vote on 31 May, the Parliament will not have said its last word over the Treaty of Nice, since it links its verdict over the treaty with the prospects for progress that will open the discussion over the future of Europe announced by the Nice Summit. Thus the Parliament foresees to adopt, in the autumn, another report in which, it indicates, for the attention of the Laeken European Council in next December, which themes will have to be broached, according to it, during this discussion, other than the four questions indicated in the Nice declaration. The draft Mendez de Vigo-Seguro resolution indicates that the functioning of Europe in the future will depend upon the results of the next reform, and that the Parliament will take these results into account at the time of giving its opinion in accordance with the accession treaties. Thus the EP recalls that is has the weapon of assent as soon as it concerns ratifying the EU enlargement, while it is merely consulted over the revision of the treaties.
With regards to the future of Europe, the resolution calls in particular that: - a Convention formed of members of the national parliaments, the EP, the Commission and the governments begins at the start of 2002 the work over a "constitutional proposal" which "should act as the basis for the work by the IGC"; - the future member countries will take part in the Convention as observers until the signing of the accession treaties, and as fully fledged members afterwards; - the intergovernmental conference is called in the second half of 2003, in order for the new treaty to be adopted in December of the same year and that there is not interference with the European elections in 2004.
As for the Treaty of Nice, the resolution especially criticises the opacity of the decision-making process and the decisions taken concerning the formation of the European Parliament. On this issue, it "requires" that the number of MEPs foreseen for Hungary and the Czech Republic be aligned with that foreseen for Belgium and Portugal, which have a similar population.