Brussels, 28/03/2002 (Agence Europe) - The ESC's adoption of the opinion on European Governance during their March plenary session (rapporteur: Ursula Engelen-Kiefer, Workers Group, Germany; co-rapporterur: Irini Pari, Employers Group, Greece), indicates that the time to act is now. Action will include the urgent implementation of the reforms set out in the Commission White Paper with the approach of enlargement. The institutions cannot wait until the next Intergovernmental Conference before reforming their structures and working methods.
In a press statement, the ESC stressed that its opinion is twofold: the creation of a new synergy among EU institutions in order to improve governance and to extend the ESC's role as a fundamental intermediary between EU institutions and civil society organisations, in line with the Protocol on co-operation with the European Commission (see EUROPE 24-25 September 2001 page 16). The ESC's main recommendations focus on: the need to make the working methods of the European institutions, especially those of the Council, more transparent; the need for accurate and extensive information on European policies; the importance of the education of citizens in the basic elements of the European Union; the involvement of civil society organisations in policy-making within "structured consultation procedures"; the need to make a clear distinction between "social dialogue" and "civil dialogue" and to establish qualitative criteria for the representiveness of civil society organisations other than the social partners, and the simplification of regulations and the creation of an independent impact analysis mechanism, together with an objective assessment of alternative modes of legislation.