Strasbourg, 03/10/2001 (Agence Europe) - The Presidet of the European Parliaemtn, Nicole Fontaine, formally announced in Tuesday morning's plenary session in Strsbourg, that the Court of First Instance had confirmed that the "Groupe technique de députés indépendants" (TDI) was incompatible with the European Parliament's regulations (see yesterday's EUROPE, p.15).
Ms Fontaine read a brief text indicating that the Court of First Instance had rejected the appeals made by MEPs from the National Front and the Lista Bonino against the Parliament ordinance of 14 September 1999 noting that the group did not exist and that, consequently, the Parliament act of 19 September 1999 deciding to note the inexistence of the TDI group is again fully applicable.
Noting the Court's decision, Gianfranco Dell'Alba, one of the three joint presidents of the Group, pointed out that an appeal would be made against this ruling. He called on the President to consult the Parliament's legal service on the suspensive or non-suspensive nature of the appeal. The Italian Radical noted that the Court recognises the different treatment existing between the political groups within the European Parliament and said that it is incumbent upon the European Parliament to remedy such disparity. British Labour member Richard Corbett, who is to prepare a report on this question, admitted in plenary that such disparity of treatment did exist. He felt that the time had therefore come to finalise his report (even if the decision to appeal could introduce further difficulty). As the ruling does not come from the highest body, the Court of Justice, the right to appeal exists, insisted the president of the Europe of Democracies and Diversities Group, Jens-Peter Bonde. All the members of the Parliament have the same political rights, and the political groups must also have the same possibilities, he insisted. This is not the opinion of CSU elected member Joachim Würmeling, who believes that, although it is normal that there should be no discrimination against the non-attached members, it is also normal that the non-attached should not, at a practical level, enjoy the same treatment as political groups.