London, 24/07/2002 (Agence Europe) - In a speech entitled "Reuniting Europe with its citizens: what role for the Convention?", given on 22 July at the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London, the European Commissioner for Justice and Home Affairs, Antonio Vitorino, who is a Member of the Convention, stressed that, far from being a hermetically sealed conclave of the "usual suspects" talking to each other in "Eurospeak", incomprehensible to the citizen, the Convention is "widely accessible". "Cynics" who say the Convention is "an empty talking shop" will be "disappointed", says Mr Vitorino, who says: "Take last month, June, as an example. Were the meetings dominated by abstract arguments about constitutional theory? I think not". He recalls that the Convention had on this occasion a working group on the area of freedom security and justice, that it had held a "realistic discussion" on how to improve the involvement of national parliaments in European policy and that it had, during a second plenary, discussed matters with the civil society. According to Mr Vitorino, the most important debate in the Convention that might yield very real results in bringing citizens closer to the institutions, is the discussion on the Charter of Fundamental Rights" and on the question of knowing whether it must be integrated into the Treaty to become legally binding. Citizens are perhaps indifferent when institutional and legislative procedures are discussed, but "they are certainly interested when it comes to knowing what their rights are", affirmed the Commissioner, noting that the Charter, although not yet legally binding, "is already being invoked by citizens, and courts are already referring to it in their decisions". The Charter of Fundamental Rights is "critical". It is "the fundamental element that links the Treaties with the interests of every individual in the Union", and "if we try to pretend that the Charter is no more than an optional add-on, we deprive ourselves of a powerful demonstration that Europe is there for the citizen", concluded Antonio Vitorino.