Brussels, 24/01/2003 (Agence Europe) - In a press release on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the Treaty of the Elysée, the International European Movement (IEM) hoped that certain "positive aspects" of the recent Franco-German institutional proposals would be integrated in the results of the Convention, but reaffirmed that they had to "rule out the coexistence of a president of the European Council or Council with powers of execution parallel to the powers of the president of the Commission".
José Maria Gil-Robles and Jo Leinen, chair and vice-chair of IEM, welcomed the progress in the Convention that fitted the proposals the European Movement made at its Congress of The Hague of 1988, while warning that such progress was only possible if the Community method was applied. The IEM thus places emphasis on the Commission's powers of initiative and execution, and on its role of representing the Union to the outside, and stresses that "means will have to be found to consolidate its democratic legitimacy, notably through procedures enabling the electorate to express its will in European elections". According to the IEM, "the strong representation of governments within the Convention" must lead to "viable compromises", so that the Constitution "is not unravelled by the IGC, which could in no way justify in the public's mind the behind closed doors re-negotiation of the text adopted by the members of the Convention". Finally, the IEM warns that "in the current state of play, the debates within the presidium demonstrate a worrying move towards the method of distribution of powers between the Union and Member States".