Strasbourg, 05/07/2001 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament has given a generally favourable welcome to the start of the Belgian Presidency (see EUROPE of 4 July, page 3). According to the head of the EPP/ED group, Hans-Gert Pöttering of Germany, MEPs are looking to the Presidency to ensure the Member States are represented at a very high level within the Convention (if there is a Convention). He would also like Mr Solana to report back to the Parliament at regular intervals about CFSP developments. A bold policy, a well-structured programme, an offer to form an alliance with the Parliament - these are just sample of the upbeat items in the Belgian Presidency's declaration, notes the head of the Socialist group, Enrique Baron of Spain. As far as he is concerned the Brussels-Laeken declaration should pave the way for a "constitutional setting" for the Treaties. It should also provide an opportunity to address economic and social issues. On behalf of the Liberals, Willy De Clercq of Belgium called for Laeken to be used to send out a strong signal about the future of the EU and its position on the world stage (in Africa, in its relations with the United States, Asia, the Middle East). The problems with the Nice ratification process still have to be settled and blunders were admittedly made at the Nice Summit. This applies in particular to the question of fair representation for the countries in line for EU membership, according the joint president of the Greens, Heidi Hautala of Finland, who welcomes the Belgian Presidency's plan to raise the Tobin tax issue in the Finance Council after the summer break. No subject should be taboo within the EU, asserted the head of the European United Left/Nordic Green Left, Francis Wurtz of France, acknowledging Prime Minister Verhofstadt's willingness to admit Europe has an identity crisis. Mr Wurtz is uneasy about the impact the economic slowdown in the United States is having on the Euro zone: unlike the US Federal Reserve, the ECB is not empowered to take action to give a fillip to growth and employment, he regretted. The gradual appearance of a two-tier Europe is a source of concern for Gerald Collins, of Ireland, speaking on behalf of the Union for a Europe of Nations group. Smaller states need to be more effectively represented, according to Mr Collins, who, along with the likes of Gerardo Galeote Quecedo (Partido Popular, Spain), is also pressing for European-scale action against organised crime. We are ready to pile critical yet constructive pressure on the Belgian Presidency, said Jens-Peter Bonde of Denmark, who is president of the Europe of Democracies and Diversities group. He urged Mr. Verhofstadt to read the memorandum from the SOS Democracy Intergroup (Mr Bonde presides over this entity). Georges Berthu (Rassemblement pour la France) agrees with Mr Verhofstadt about the need for Europe to be more in touch with its citizens but spurns the idea of „advanced federalism " as this would produce conflicting results, he claims. Frank Vanhecke, from Belgium's Vlaams Blok, first of all asserted that the Nice Treaty „no longer exists" then went on to make insulting remarks about his hostility to the new EU Presidency: couched in an unacceptable way, and drawing their inspiration from domestic policy considerations, these remarks are completely out of place here, according to the head of the EPP/ED group, Mr Pöttering.
The Institutional Affairs Committee agreed with the Belgian Presidency that it is not enough to offer citizens specific answers to specific questions. Countenance also has to be given to their demands to be involved in the process for framing guidelines for decisions due to be taken by the EU. So said the president of the Committee Giorgio Napolitano (DS, Italy). As for the Convention, the rows about the name are not impartial, according to Mr Napolitano: those calling for a "forum" are thinking about something different from what Mr Verhofstadt has in mind. No-one actually mentioned this, but Mr Verhofstdat is proposing something quite mould-breaking, which is nothing less than to „rescue the Commission", said Olivier Dupuis, the Belgian radical elected in Italy. The clear-eyed vision of the Belgian Presidency was hailed by the Belgian Liberal Daniel Ducarme, who calls for the record to be straight on Europe's future: Europeans have to know who wants a European constitution and who does not. Monica Frassoni, an Italian Green MEP elected in Belgium, said the European constitution should involve more than streamlining the current Treaties. It has to take the form of a root-and-branch reform of the aims, the instruments and the rights of citizens within the EU.
Closing the debate, the Belgian Prime Minister made the following comments: Convention. Yes, governments should be represented at a high level ; - European constitution: it is an idea that is „achievable" at the Brussels-Laeken Summit, even though it would have been deemed impossible a few years ago; - Nice Treaty. It is vital for this to be ratified: the obvious shortcomings are outnumbered by the advantages. By way of conclusion, to those who suggested his programme was too ambitious, Mr Verhofstadt repeated the need for the Brussels-Laeken declaration to address the concerns of citizens and, with an eye to the preparations for the declaration, said he was planning to extend the customary pre-Summit visits to the Member States so as to ensure a kind of "permanent tour of the capitals"