Brussels, 27/01/2003 (Agence Europe) - The Council of the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party (ELDR) adopted a resolution on Friday on the position the liberals will be defending at the European Convention. The liberals reject the Franco-German proposal for a full-time President of the European Council on the grounds that this threatens the institutional balance of the EU, along with the idea of a Congress of the people of Europe, but back the idea of the election of the President of the European Commission by a qualified majority of MEPs and the proposals for a European foreign minister (who they say should be a Vice-President of the Commission). They also call for making qualified majority voting the norm, "comprising a majority of Member States representing a majority of the EU population"; budget codecision for the EP; including the Charter of Fundamental Rights in the new constitution; giving local and regional authorities the right to bring actions before the Court of Justice; and the election of a proportion of MEPs from a pan-European list.