Brussels, 29/05/2002 (Agence Europe) - On the occasion of an exchange of views with the members of the parliamentary committee on constitutional affairs, on Monday, Commissioner Michel Barnier and Antonio Vitorino were able, in the presence of some parliamentarians from Member States and from candidate countries (Italy, Poland, Lithuania, Turkey), to clarify the significance of the European Commission's contribution to the Convention. "It is without claiming to be the government of Europe" that the European Commission presented its project, assured Mr Barnier, stressing that the "risk of being right too soon was to be taken".
The Commission's communication which had been favourably welcomed by most parliamentarians when it was presented by Romano Prodi (see EUROPE of 23 May, p.3), enjoyed the same almost-general approval within the constitutional committee. Some of its members expressed congratulations on "the spirit that works within the Commission" and the "right moment" for this communication. Speaking more negatively, Jens Peter Bonde, President of the EDD Group, mainly raised questions about the sharing of political functions and the degree of transparency of the institutions as advocated by the Commission. However, within the same Group, French national William Abithol saw the document as "the Commission's swansong" or, at least, "a surge ahead regardless". He reproached the Commission for its lack of self-criticism just at a time when public opinion, on the occasion of referenda and elections, manifests its discontent. Following this volatile metaphor, French Green member Gérard Onesta preferred to assimilate the contribution to a swallow and hoped that it would make the Commission's spring. German Social Democrat Jo-Leinen said he was above all satisfied that the Commission wants the Union to speak with a single voice, but would have liked it to point out that its President must be elected by the Parliament and not chosen by the European Council (whose place and role is questioned by Monica Frassoni, joint president of the Greens Group). British Labour member Richard Corbett agrees about the place given in the communication to the Community method and to its adjustment, but notes a lack of precision on monitoring subsidiarity and on the responsibilities to be entrusted to the person who should combine the roles of High Representative for CFSP and Commissioner for External Relations. After stating that the Convention is an ally and not an opponent of the Commission (it only groups 20% of Euorosceptics, she says), Dutch national Johanna Maij-Weggen (EPP-ED) asked how to deal with the intergovernmental tendency which is not only to be seen in Council but also in Parliament. The president of the Parliament's delegation to the Convention and member of the Praesidium, Inigo Mendez de Vigo (EPP-ED), recommended establishing a hierarchy of norms and more simple instruments for action, while the representative of the Polish Senate insisted on the principle of solidarity. The need for unity in the Community system, as stated in the communication, mainly received the approval of UDF member Jean Louis Bourlanges.
In response to MEPs, Mr Barnier pointed out that it was important to express one's views, otherwise the Commission could be marginalised. He said the worse thing of all would be silence, and that any absence would be faulty. He specified that the Commission had voluntarily not made any proposals on the functioning of the institutions, wishing first of all to present the unity of the system to then tackle the question of instruments. According to Mr Barnier, the Convention's capacity to explain matters to citizens should strengthen the credibility of the three main European institutions. The text resulting from this exercise should consist of around one hundred articles that are readable and coherent, he said. He felt that the coordination of economic policies must be better assured and that, since there is currently no centre to the system for setting out general interest and ensuring cohesion, it is "possible to imagine a Special Council". Mr Vitorino took the floor on the question of subsidiarity, considering that the Court of Justice, which currently exercises ex-post control (which he says is not often used) should be entrusted with a broader role "ex-ante" or of another kind. Mr Vitorino confirmed that the need for a hierarchy of norms, that is closer to the national models which clearly differentiate between what is legislative and what is executive, should be accompanied by a recasting of comitology methods. The Chair of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs, Antonio Napolitano (Democratici di sinistra) regretted the echo given by the press of the recent declarations by the Heads of State and Government on a European "president" to the detriment of those of other European institutions and above all the fact that they come outside the appropriate framework. "All institutions must make the effort to introduce their proposals at the Convention", he stressed.