Strasbourg, 16/05/2002 (Agence Europe) - By adopting, with 322 votes in favour, 64 against and 58 abstentions, the report by the French Christian Democrat Alain Lamassoure on the demarcation of power between the European Union and the Member States, the European Parliament brought a first crucial contribution to the debate, which will begin next week within the European Convention (see EUROPE OF 19 April, p.6, and of 15 February, pages 5 and 6). The European Commission's contribution must be adopted, next Wednesday, by the College before being presented, in the afternoon, to the European Parliament by President Romano Prodi and Commissioners Antonio Vitorino and Michel Barnier, during a Conference of Presidents widened to include all MEPs.
The report by Mr Lamassoure, which has practically not been modified in plenary, examines the best way to include the EU powers within a constitutional framework whose preamble should be completed with references to the European Social Model and the role of Europe in a peaceful world and to stability and international justice. The Parliament insists on bringing the second and third pillars into the Community sphere of competence, in order to strengthen democratic legitimacy and guarantee parliamentary and jurisdictional control. It feels that this exercise must target a balance between economic integration already organised within the EU, its political integration and its social integration (Greens/ALE amendment). The Parliament proposes to make a distinction between three forms of power: the assumed authority of the Member States, the exclusive powers of the European Union and the shared powers. It asserts that it is not necessary to create a list of powers exclusive to the States, but to make use of the principal of presumption of power by the State when a constitutional text does not state otherwise. The Parliament believes that the EU's own powers must remain few: they must concern, as today, customs policy, external economic relations, the internal market, including the four freedoms and financial services, competition policy, structural policy and cohesion, association treaties, as well as, for the Euro area, monetary policy. However, the Parliament would like to add, following its rapporteur: the defining and implementation of foreign policy and common defence, the legal founding of the common area of freedom and security, as well as the financing of the EU budget. The shared powers will cover all the other areas, with, according to the subjects, different methods of action ranging from the setting of general rules, to a simple co-ordination of national activities, passing by an additional intervention in relation to the actions of the Member States. The Parliament considers it crucial to foresee an evolving clause to avoid rigidly setting the system for the allocation of authority. In this matter, it considers it necessary to maintain a mechanism, comparable to Article 308, whose implementation could only be exceptional in nature, and which would function in both directions, allowing to return power to the Member States when the need for Community intervention has gone (the European Parliament should take part in such a decision). The Parliament also considers it necessary to enhance the principals of subsidiarity and proportionality. To do this, it proposes that a member of the Commission be responsible for monitoring the implementation of the principal of subsidiarity for all the texts it proposes. The Parliament proposes to create, within the Court of Justice, a chamber responsible for issues relating to the Constitution, to authority and the fundamental rights: this path of appeal would be open to the Commission or a significant minority of the Council or Parliament. With regards to the regions or other territorial groupings, the Parliament underlines that the allocation of powers within each Member State is exclusively a national decision, but it calls upon its Constitutional Committee to draft a specific report on the participation of territorial groupings in the drafting and transposition of European rules, while respecting the national constitutions (the full text of this resolution will be soon published in the EUROPE/Documents series).
During the debate, Alain Lamassoure, underlined that the time has come to renounce treaties written by diplomats "a little like a car built by mechanics for mechanics", and explained that the exercise now consists of making the text accessible to citizens by drafting a "clearer, shorter, more coherent Constitution". Hence the need for clear sharing of powers. He hoped it would not mention the powers attributed to Member States, as a presumption of powers is sufficient from this point of view. With regards the Union's powers, he insisted they should be extended to CFSP and to the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice. Mr Lamassoure also pressed in favour of jurisdictional arbitration of conflict of powers.
Presenting the opinion of the economic committee, German Social Democrat Christa Randzio-Plath insisted on the need to guarantee EU competence for the four freedoms. She felt that the broad lines of economic policy should be fixed by Council and Parliament together. German Green member Elisabeth Schroeder, who presented the opinion of the regional committee, recommended an early warning mechanism for improving the participation of regions and local authorities in training and implementation of European legislation. She welcomed the intention of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs to prepare a specific report on involving the territorial authorities.
Speaking on behalf of the EPP-ED Group, Spanish national Inigo Mendes de Vigo welcomed the fact that the Parliament clearly takes position at a time when the debate is initiated within the European Convention. He took a stance against a catalogue of powers that is too inflexible, and stressed the importance of monitoring subsidiarity through a court of arbitration, given the considerable volume of shared powers. British Labour member Richard Corbett gave the support of the Socialist Group to the Lamassoure report, and above all insisted on the need to conserve flexible mechanisms. British Liberal Democrat Andrew Duff also gave assurance of his group's support to the report but appealed for a strengthened role for the regions. The support of the Greens/EFA Group was expressed by the elected member of the Scottish National Party, Neil McCormick, who called for a social policy to be developed. Sylvia-Yvonne Kaufmann (PDS), speaking on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group, pointed out that she had abstained during the vote in constitutional committee because the report does not make sufficiently clear mention of the EU's democratic deficit, and does not take a stance on the solutions to remedy this. "Employment and social security must not be variables of competition", she said, urging for the creation of a social Europe. Speaking on behalf of the Union of a Europe of Nations Group, Portuguese national José Ribeiro e Castro challenged the constitutional approach defended by the Lamassoure report and spoke in favour of enhancing national democracies and the role of national parliaments. Speaking of "a Europe that deals with too many things in too much detail", the elected member of the French hunters' group, Véronique Mathieu, said she hoped a list of exclusive Member State powers would be drawn up. Charles de Gaulle (National Front) reproached the rapporteur for wanting a super European State and, criticising "European construction that is artificial, fragile and doomed to become a free trade area", he deplored the fact that the principles of subsidiarity had become "subsidiary". Giving his support to the report, the Chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Elmar Brok (CDU) stressed the good balance that is achieved between clear boundaries of powers, and respect of Walter Hallstein's definition whereby Europe is under "continuous creation". He nonetheless hoped that national parliaments would be able to have access to the Court in the case of arbitration on conflict of powers. The Chair of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs, Giorgio Napolitano (DS), appealed for the Parliament not to adopt amendments likely to undermine this very balanced report. He insisted on the need to extend the Union's own powers to foreign affairs and defence because this "corresponds to the wish of citizens, who want a stronger and more united Europe".
Commissioner Michel Barnier stressed that the exercise of defining powers must avoid three risks: - rigidity, the suppression of certain legal, so-called functional, legal bases (he cited Article 13 which bans discrimination) and the fact of ignoring certain derived powers, such as the ban on restriction to free movement. Mr Barnier noted that the Parliament's contribution comes one week before that of the Commission and "on the eve of the extremely neuralgic Convention session".