Madrid, 04/02/2002 (Agence Europe) - Spanish regionalist parties are attempting to use the Spanish Presidency of the Council of Europe and the constitution of the Convention on the future of Europe as an opportunity for re-launching the debate on the participation of the regions in the European decision-making process.
During a meeting on Friday with a group of European journalists, Catalan coalition, Convergencia y Unió spokesperson, at the Spanish Congress, Ignasi Guardans, and Basque GV-PNV party spokesman, Josu Erkoreka, spoke out against the agreement between the Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE) and the Partido Popular on nominating Spanish Parliamentary representatives to the Convention. The Spanish Congress should confirm the designation of Josep Borrel for the Socialists and Gabriel Cisnerso for the PP this week. According to Mr Guardans, this agreement does not reflect the reality of Spanish politics, where the regions had their own legitimacy and had to be reflected in the architecture of the EU. Mr Guardans stressed that the Committee of the Regions only had observer status and did not have the right to vote at the Convention. Mr Guardans wanted the Spanish Parliament, which had the right to vote at the Convention, to present a vision that corresponded to what was happening in Spain. This could only be achieved, added Mr Guardans, if there was a total consensus on the choice of Parliamentary representatives. The Spanish Socialist party had tried to obtain a compromise on Monday by calling for Spanish MPs to meet up in the EU and Spanish Congress Joint Committee before each Convention sitting.
As the Spanish government digs its heels in by asserting that the Spanish Constitution allows for only one "political representative" at the European Union, the debate in Spain grows wider. On Monday, the President of the regional Basque government, Juan José Ibarretxe demanded that further discussions on the financial pact between the autonomous Basque Community and the central government (the Concierto económico) would depend on obtaining a dialogue on the participation of the Basque government in the work of the EU Council. He also called for fiscal autonomy for the Basque region, which would be reflected at the ECOFIN Council. GV-PNV spokesperson, Josu Erkoreka, said on Friday that the debate was not about autonomy but on the need for a clear presence that would allow for the active participation in the Spanish government decision-making process at a European level. With this debate in mind, Convergencia y Unió spokesman, Ignasi Guardans, condemned the lack of political will on the part of the government. He claimed that Spain was a shocking "anomaly" compared to other existing models in decentralised or federal Member States like Belgium, Germany or Austria where such participation would be allowed.
European Commission President Romano Prodi, pointed out during the visit of José Ibarretxe to Brussels ten days ago that the issue of the Basque community's representation on the Council ought to be tackled within the framework of national constitutional arrangements (see EUROPE 25 January page 5). On this principle, the Spanish government, PP and PSOE are agreed. A Spanish Socialist spokesman at the Spanish Congress and former European Commissioner, Manuel Marin, declared that they agreed with the government on the fact that the question of the role of the different national parliaments in the European decision-making process should be dealt with by each Constitution. Mr Marin also added that they were seeking further representation for the local regions in the European debate but this current issue was essentially an internal Spanish affair.