Paris, 10/05/2001 (Agence Europe) - The French Senate Delegation for the European Union has published the report on its hearing of 17 April on "the idea of a European Constitution", with the Director General of the EU Council's Legal services, Jean-Claude Piris, and Alain Lamassoure MEP (former French deputy and former French Minister of European Affairs).
On that occasion, Mr. Piris reiterated his conviction that "a Union Constitution would only make full sense if it related to the creation of a federal or quasi-federal State", prospect that "does not seem realistic today". To be able to speak of a "constitution", he said, we should have to "arrive at a text which, other than the preservation of fundamental freedoms, puts in place - a Union government; - a definition of competencies; external sovereignty; - a budgetary and fiscal power; - the possibility of it being reviewed without unanimity of Member States being required". All these aspects are "problematic", observes Piris, noting in particular that: (1) regarding the definition of competencies (subject for which Alain Lamassour is the rapporteur in the European Parliament), "the difficulty of the exercise is obvious: no existing federal system (…) has managed a clear and stable distribution. Could we achieve that in the case of Europe, whereas the internal organisations of Member States are extremely varied (…), and would we not risk placing the dynamics of integration back into question?; (2) regarding tax, "close harmonization is not essential in a federal system", but one cannot "conceive of a federal State that does not have the power to raise taxes and itself set its own budget".
Asked, notably by former MEP Aymoeri de Montesquiou, on the possibility of creating a "European Senate", Mr. Piris said, referring to the speech by German President Johannes Rau to the European Parliament (Chancellor Schroeder had no yet set out his ideas on the subject, in the draft resolution for the SPD Conference: Ed.), he "strongly doubts that Member States are ready to make of the Council a second Chamber". "The Council's role is much too broad, and will probably remain so", he exclaimed.
As for Mr. Lamassoure, he responded to Jacques Delors, who states that "a good treaty is better than a bad Constitution", by claiming that "a mediocre Constitution will always be better than a very bad treaty, as is, in my eyes, the Treaty of Nice". According to him, "the constitutional approach would in particular have the advantages of: (1) establishing "a statement of rights and objectives", of rights that are already included in the treaties, but in a dispersed manner: "here I'm thinking of this "why we are marrying" that at times appears in constitutions but not really in our treaties", he remarked, also noting that, in major international negotiations, especially within the WTO, the Europeans defend "a European social model, undefined in the texts but that which deserves to be"; (2) allow us to "go beyond the opposition of a Member State". Mr. Lamassoure, who overturns the argument used by Mr. Piris, considers it essential to "guarantee that institutional progress can still be secured, despite possible opposition". He then notes: "Abandoning the treaty approach, is to sign up to a new Charter which some may not wish to join. It's that way, in fact, that monetary Europe was built".
"Regarding the legislative role, we could move towards the creation of an upper chamber where Member States would be represented, either by ministers, or by parliamentarians, or both", says Lamassoure, observing that already today some federal States like Germany, Austria and Belgium have themselves represented, "at certain Council sessions, not by a federal minister, but by representatives of the regions". He then added that, according to him, when the EcoFin Council examines the problem of budgetary policy coordination, "it would be desirable that the French delegation not be composed, as it is now, of the Minister of the Budget accompanied by the Director of the Treasury and the Governor of the Bank of France, but by two general rapporteurs of the Finance Committees of the Assembly and the Senate". Mr. Lamassoure does, however, oppose the creation of a "second upper chamber that would be added to the Council".
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