Brussels, 28/02/2002 (Agence Europe) - The Praesidium of the Convention on the future of Europe finally decided to give each Member of the Convention a draft Rules of Procedure document, leaving them enough time to examine it carefully before they make their decision at the next plenary session on 21/22 March. This was the procedure recommended by the European Parliament representatives on the Praesidium in order to avoid any procedural debate that would not have gone down well on the day the Convention's work was solemnly launched. Presenting the draft Rules of Procedure to the Plenary, Chairman Giscard d'Estaing said that any Convention Member Could propose amendments at the March meeting.
As we suggested in yesterday's EUROPE, p.3, the Praesidium managed to reach consensus on a more balanced draft Rules of Procedure than the one that had initially been provided and which is closer to the Laeken Declaration wording. It is extremely simple and forms part of a dynamic perspective since in Article 16 it mentions that the Rules of Procedure can be amended or supplemented by the Convention based on a proposal by the Praesidium. A provisional time table has been drawn up by the Praesidium and presented for approval to the Convention. Each Member and Observer can present written contributions to the Praesidum. No voting is foreseen. Deputies can be present but may only speak when the Member proper is absent. Taking account of the view expressed by Members of the Convention, the Chairman will ensure that the discussions run smoothly. Under the same criteria, and once the Praesidium has considered the issue, he may decide to organise expert hearings on particular points and can propose to the Praesidium to set up workgroups.
The following timetable will apply until July: March: Praesidium on 14/20, Plenary on 21/22, Praesidium on 27; April: Praesidium on 15, Plenary on 15/16, Praesidium on 25; May: Praesidium on 8 and 22; Plenary on 23/24; Praesidium on 30; June: Praesidium on 5, Plenary on 6/7, Praesidium on 13 and 24, Plenary on 24/25, Praesidium on 26; July: Praesidium on 10, Plenary on 11/12, Praesidium on 18. (An additional Praesidium meeting may be considered for the end of July.)
Valéry Giscard d'Estaing says there is no power struggle
At a brief press conference, Chairman Valéry Giscard d'Estaing said that the drafting phase would begin at the end of the summer at the latest and said that he used the word "Treaty" in his speech because technically, it will be a treaty and perhaps a Constitutional Treaty, which is what they would be trying to make. If we do not achieve this, we will have failed, he said. The Convention Chairman said that if the outcome of the Convention and the IGC was of a constitutional nature, one could imagine a form of popular consultation, possibly connected with the European elections. In terms of the role of the components, he felt they could be useful in terms of organising work, but in the serious debates, it was the Members and not the components who will have to decide. Asked about a potential power struggle in the Praesidium or between the Praesidium and the Secretariat, Mr Giscard d'Estaing said that there was no power struggle and everyone was working in a fully relaxed manner.
Mr Giscard d'Estaing presented the timetable to the Plenary, explaining that the March session could be used for a debate between Convention Members to enable them all to express their expectations and enable them all to get to know each other. The April meeting would be the first occasion to hear civil society's views while the first working meeting was held with an address by both Vice-Chairmen (Giuliano Amato and Jean-Luc Dehaene) and fifteen other Members, who all hailed the historical nature of the meeting. The Hungarian government representative, Janos Martonyi, was the first speaker to take the floor (EUROPE will return to this).