Brussels, 29/05/2001 (Agence Europe) - The speech by Lionel Jospin immediately raised reactions in the European Parliament, notably among the German members. For the President of the EPP/ED group, Hans-Gert Pottering, this is a "mixed bag of positive and negative proposals". Among the positive elements: the support for the creation of a convention for the drafting of a Constitution, the naming of the European Commission President within the political grouping that won the European elections (but for Mr Pottering this naming should take place through an EP election), the extension of qualified majority voting to all issue submitted to codecision. On the other hand, Mr Pottering criticised the basis of the economic contingency fund wanted by Lionel Jospin and his unlimited support for public services, and reproaches him for wanting to strengthen the Council and the national parliaments instead of consolidating the EP's powers. The CDU member Elmar Brok feels that the "Congress" proposed by Mr Jospin is "a step back for Europe" and sees an "attack against parliamentarism" in the proposal to introduce a possibility to dissolve the EP. As for Karl von Wogau (CDU), he qualifies as a "French version of the Loch Ness monster" the proposal to create an economic government for the Euro zone. The German Social Democrat Klaus Hansch asserts, for his part, that the speech by Mr Jospin "enriched the present debate (…) new, significant guidelines", but that it does not propose a "model" capable of being applied as it is to the "political reality of the European Union". It would be worth while to "jointly examine the two projects, German and French", feels the former EP President, who told Jospin: The SPD plan does not want to turn the Union Member States into Lander of a "European federal Republic", and the development of the Council into a house of States would be very far from the Bundesrat model.
The contribution by Mr Jospin "reveals a strong ambition (…) we applaud him with enthusiasm, stated the French Socialist Pervenche Beres, who notably welcomed the idea of a European social treaty, the proposal for a Framework-Directive for public services, the affirmation of the "federation vocation of the Union" through a constitution in which the Charter would have its place as well as the reform of the voting method for the European elections.
The German PDS member, Sylvia-Yvonne Kaufmann welcomes as for her the desire shown by Mr Jospin to refocus the debate over the political objectives of the Union instead of sticking to the institutional reforms, and welcomes the proposal aiming to create an economic contingency fund.
Jospin rejects Schröder's plan stated the FPÖ member Daniela Raschhofer, who felt that the Franco-German engine of integration is out of order. Furthermore, while the involvement of national parliaments is very dear to her, she doubts of the possibility of creating a "Congress".
The EP President, Nicole Fontaine, in a personal reaction, appreciated the fact that Mr Jospin identified the "main current problems of society" but, with regards to the institution, she felt that the Prime Minister did not "dare to follow the federalist logic to the end". As for the idea of a "Congress" (especially with a "permanent nature"), she sees in it the danger of an "institutional confusion". Finally, Mrs Fontaine recalls that she underlined, personally, that the possibility of dissolving the European Parliament does not "surprise her in its principal"; however, she underlines, such an eventuality should answer the precise rules of an exceptional nature, such as, for example, two close censures from the Commission".