Brussels, 01/03/2002 (Agence Europe) - The first meeting of the European Convention came to an end, on Thursday evening, after a brief debate allowing some fifteen speakers to express their views on the organisation of the work and on the ambitions of the Convention.
Chairman Valéry Giscard d'Estaing opened this first working session with the presentation of the draft regulation and timetable proposed by the Praesidium (see yesterday's EUROPE, p.5), and specified a little later that the "conventionals" had the possibility, up to next Friday, of forwarding their suggestions and comments on the draft regulation to the Praesidium. Vice-Chairman Giuliano Amato described the magnitude of the task undertaken by the Convention, and insisted on the need to achieve indepth Union reform. Vice-Chairman Jean-Luc Dehaene spoke of the organisation of the forum of civil society, which must "guarantee full participation" by the public. He proposed that a "multidimensional" forum be constituted, working on an interweaving of networks deployed in Member States, candidate countries and at European level. He cited different areas of activity: the Internet, the organisation of national fora, the involvement of the Economic and Social Committee and of the Committee of the Regions, structured dialogue withNGOs, hearings and the youth convention, proposed by Mr Giscard d'Estaing. Mr Dehaene pointed out that he was planning on issuing a memorandum and that he was waiting for the members of the Convention to give their reactions in order to complete it.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Janos Martonyi urged for full participation of the representatives of candidate countries at the Convention. MEP Hanja Maij-Weggen (EPP-ED, Netherlands) said it will be necessary to place emphasis, in particular, on the role of the EU in the world and on relations between the EU and the Member States. Greek MEP Marietta Giannakou (ND) stressed the need to take the expectations of citizens into account and to make proposals for the future. Former Commissioner Ray McSharry spoke of the consensus existing in Ireland on the need to prepare the future of the EU, and urged for the process to be open and transparent. Finnish MEP Kimmo Kiljunen (centre) felt one should not seek to create a federal State, on the basis of the model of the Philadelphia Convention, but rather create a "post nation state" that would be the foundation for a real supranational democracy. Belgian Socialist Anne Van Lancker (EP) suggested one should speak of a "constitutional Convention" and insisted on the role that women should play within the Convention Czech Foreign Minister Jan Kavan hoped the candidate countries would be represented at the Praesidium and asked the Chairman to have at least the most important documents translated into the national languages of these countries. French Socialist Olivier Duhamel (EP) said that each and everyone should go beyond their sense of political or national belonging in order to concentrate on belonging to Europe, the only link between all the members of the Convention. Swedish Deputy Prime Minister Lena Hjelm-Wallén said questions must first be raised regarding the objectives of the Union. Commissioner Michel Barnier recommended giving a "face to the Convention by going into the regions and countries to make the debate come to life".