Brussels, 12/02/2002 (Agence Europe) - The President of the Convention of the future of Europe, Valery Giscard d'Estaing will be in Brussels on 14 February, where he is to participate in a working meeting in the morning with Vice-Presidents Giuliano Amato and Jean-Luc Dehaene, in the presence of the Convention's Secretary General Sir John Kerr. Talks with the representatives of the European Parliament, Inigo Mendez de Vigo and Klaus Haensch are scheduled for the afternoon. On 15 February, Valery Giscard d'Estaing will be in The Hague at the invitation of Prime Minister Wim Kok, with whom, over lunch, he will discuss "the role of the Netherlands in the Convention", says a press release.
In addition, the President of the Socialist Group in the EP, Enrique Baron told the press on Tuesday that "the most urgent question", in view of the Convention's inauguration on 28 February, is the election of two representatives of national parliaments to the Presidium (you may recall that, at his press conference at the Laeken Summit, Guy Verhofstadt moved ahead somewhat, anticipating that one of these representatives would be British Labour's David Miliband, member of the "Laeken Group": see out Special Edition of 16 December 2001). Mr. Baron said he had expressed this concern on 11 February at the meeting of the Socialist Group with the leaders of the Socialist and Social-Democrat groups of EU national parliaments and candidate countries, and that they too had expressed "concern". I proposed that José Borrell, Socialist representative of the Spanish Parliament in the Convention and Chair of the Joint Congress-Senate Committee, take the initiative so that a meeting may be held to elect the two delegates of the parliaments of Member States on the Presidium, said Baron. The Socialists should have the right to one of these two posts, he considered, saying that he had "advised my comrades in national parliaments to wage this battle".
We shall be in regular contact throughout the Convention with the colleagues of "our political family", Mr. Baron confirmed, noting that Valery Giscard d'Estaing "agreed". We must achieve "the most common line possible", added the Spanish Socialist, while noting that, on several issues affecting the future of Europe, "we share points of views with the EPP and other political groups too". As for the physical distribution of seats within the Convention, Mr. Baron remarked: "we would have preferred sitting together by political groups, but agreed to Mr. Giscard d'Estaing's compromise providing for an alphabetical order (rather than by "component" of the Convention (see what Klaus Haensch had to say about this in EUROPE of 7 February, p.5). With Valery Giscard d'Estaing, in Strasbourg last Wednesday, we also raised the possibility of creating working groups chaired by members of the Presidium, said Mr. Baron. He then stipulated, regarding the working method for the Convention, that "we are more in favour of discussions on texts, whereas Giscard d'Estaing is keen on his three-phase method: listen, analyse, propose - a very French method". In addition, he considered that, "without rules of procedure like those of the European Parliament" (which are very strict on the time one has to speak: Ed.), the Convention risks becoming a "kind of unmanageable open assembly" (you may recall that, at this stage, Giscard d'Estaing is said to be considering rules of procedure precisely to organise the time allowed for holding the floor: see EUROPE of 6 February, p.4).
As for the representatives of the Socialist Group within the Convention, Mr. Baron recalled that he had been "criticised" for the choice: but, he said, "I believe that I'm the only one to have respected the balance between the sexes". He then commented: "there were two, and three times more comrades wanted to participate than their were places. It's sign of interest in the Convention…".