Luxembourg, 02/10/2001 (Agence Europe) - The EU Court of First Instance (CFI) has rejected the appeals by MEPs of the Front National and the Bonino list against the European Parliament. "The Court considers the obligation, imposed on the components of a political group of affirming political affinity, not to be contrary to Community law", a CFI press release states.
"The Court points out that only acts relating exclusively to the internal organisation of the Parliament's work are precluded from being the subject-matter of an application for annulment". The act of 14 September 1999 (by which Parliament prohibits the formation of a political group without political affinity: Ed.), which concerns the interpretation of the Rule concerning the formation of political groups, and the adoption in plenary session gave rise to a declaration that the TDI Group (Group Technique des Deputés Indépendant) was not in conformity with the Rules, cannot be deemed, the Court considered, to fall within that categories of acts, and must therefore be capable of forming the subject matter of a review as to its legality by the Community judiciary".
"The Court considers that the condition concerning political affinity in the formation of political groups is an imperative one in view, in particular, of the reference consistently made to the political groups in the organisation of the EP. The requirement of political affinity does not preclude the Members from expressing different political opinions on occasion, in accordance with the principle of independence of the European electoral mandate laid down in he 1976 Act on the election of representatives to the EP by universal suffrage."
"The Court considers that the twofold requirement of political affinity and of belonging to more than one Member State in order to form a political group enables local political particularities to be transcended and to promote the European integration envisaged by the Treaty and the emergence of political parties at European level as a factor in such integration. The Court considers those to be legitimate objectives and the difference in treatment that that implies as between the members of a political group and those who are not members of a group (as regards the rights conferred on groups by other Rules) is not to be regarded as discrimination. The Court, moreover, recalls the principle of democracy to be one of the bases of the European Union. This principle, however, does not prevent Parliament from adopting internal measures of organisation, provided that they are compatible with that principle: the CFI considers that "the requirement to be organised in political groups is an appropriate and necessary means of attaining those objectives bearing in mind the specific features of the Parliament, the conditions under which it must operate and the institutional tasks and objectives attributed to it."
"Lastly, the Court considers that those rules do not conflict with the principle of freedom of association laid down in Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, a principle protected by Community law. Similarly, the parliamentary traditions of Member states do not warrant the conclusion that the formation of a political group by Members declaring that they abjure any political affinity would be possible in most of the national parliaments", the press release stipulates.
Following this ruling, the TDI Group should again be disbanded. The announcement should be made in plenary session soon. EUROPE recalls that the Group was re-formed after a preliminary ruling that had suspended Parliament's decision observing its dissolution (see bulletin of 16 November 1999).