Brussels, 07/09/2001 (Agence Europe) - The Economic and Social Committee (ESC)'s Plenary Session on 12/13 September in Brussels will be noticeable for the intervention of the President of the European Commission, Romano Prodi, and a debate on the future of Europe with the Presidents of the economic and social councils of the EU.
At 15: 00 hrs on Wednesday, President Prodi will present the White Paper on European Governance and then, alongside the ESC President Göke Frerichs, he will sign the "Protocol governing arrangements for cooperation between the European Commission and the Economic and Social Committee". As Thomas Jansen, President Frerichs' Head of Cabinet, has explained, the new thing about this Protocol is that it is a negotiated document resulting from genuine dialogue between the ESC and the Commission (see EUROPE of 9 June, p.16). The two Presidents will sign a political statement to which the Protocol itself will be annexed, in which they say that as part of the introduction of new forms of governance, the ESC's mission is to become an indispensable intermediary between the EU institutions and organised civil society and must therefore be in a position to consolidate its ties with the relevant associations and categories that may be represented and will therefore by means of the Protocol step up arrangements for cooperation in order to be able to better serve the general interests of the European Union.
The Commission-ESC Cooperation Protocol
The Protocol between the Commission and the ESC covers four domains:
1. Institutional and administrative relations: - a meeting between the Council Presidency and the President of the Commission and/or the Member of the Commission responsible for relations with the ESC, will be held once a year on the initiative of the Commission in order to examine each institutions' priorities and topics of joint interest and to assess the application of the Protocol; - a work session is planned once a year on the initiative of the Commission Secretariat-General in coordination with the ESC Secretariat to review the Commission's medium-term initiatives which the ESC can contribute to after examination by ESC bodies.
2. The consultative task of the Economic and Social Committee: - when preparing its proposals, the Commission may request that the ESC draw up opinions or organise hearings in areas of particular importance where it believes it has the appropriate competencies and expertise. The ESC will issue duly backed up "exploratory opinions"; - to increase the readability of its opinions, the ESC will use simplified and speedy procedures for drafting routine opinions that are subject to compulsory consultation; the Commission and the ESC acknowledge the usefulness and necessity of following up the ESC's opinions. The Commission will systematically supply the reasons for it deciding (or not) to take account of the comments in the ESC opinions. The suggestions accepted by the Commission will be incorporated into its amended proposals.
3. The Economic and Social Committee as intermediary for organised civil society: - The Commission and the ESC will study the practical aspects of how the ESC exercises its competencies and its ability to deal with issues of structural, social, economic or industrial change, particularly in the context of enlargement; - as part of the process of setting up new forms of governance, the ESC must be able to fully and effectively act as intermediary between the European institutions and groaned civil society by developing a balanced approach in the general interest and will also act as intermediary with third countries with which the EU has a structured relationship. The Commission will rely on the Committee for strengthening its relationship with organised civil society.
4. Information policy: The Commission is calling on its offices and delegations in third countries to disseminate ESC publications and designate a liaison officer for ESC work.
Galileo, cybercrime, introduction of the Euro on September's agenda
In terms of work this session, the ESC will be called upon to adopt three own initiative opinions: 1) The Galileo European satellite navigation programme (rapporteur: Mr Bernabei, Workers' Group, Italy); 2) Private non-for-profit social services in the context of services of general interest in Europe (rapp.: Mr Bloch-Laine, Various Interests' Group, France); 3) Memorandum on Lifelong Learning (rapp.: Mr Koryfidis, Employers' Group, Greece; co-rapporteurs: Mr Rodriguez Garcia Caro, Employers' Group, Spain, Mr Rupp, Various Interests' Group, Germany).
In addition, the ESC will be voting on draft legislation or Commissions put forward by the Commission, namely: 1) Machinery (amending Directive 95/16/EC) (rapp.: Mr de Vadder, Employers' Group, Belgium); 2) Restricting the marketing and use of certain dangerous substances (carcinogens, mutagens or substances toxic to reproduction) (Mr Colombo, Workers' Group, Italy); 3) Civil aviation: occurrence reporting (Mr Green, Employers' Group, Denmark); 4) Information Society/Computer-related crime (Mr Dantin, Employers' Group, Italy); 5) The rice market (Ms Santiago, Employers' Group, Spain); 6) Seed market (Mr Liolios, Various Interests' Group, Greece); 6) Quality of employment: a framework for investing in quality (Mr Bloch-Laine); 7) New European labour markets, open to all (referred to the EP) (rapporteur: Ms Caroll, Employers' Group, Ireland; co-rapporteurs Ms Polverini, Workers' Group, Italy; Mr Fuchs, Various Interests' Group, Germany); 8) Generalised tariff preferences 2002-2004 (Mr Walker, Employers' Group, UK); 9) Assessment of state of preparedness for the introduction of the Euro (Mr Burani, Employers' Group, Italy): 10) Wine market (Mr Kienle, Employers' Group, Germany); 11) International Trade and Social Development - 7th Euromed Summit (Ms Lopez Alemedariz, Employers' Group, Spain).