Brussels, 06/03/2003 (Agence Europe) - In a press conference about the convention meeting on Wednesday, Giuliano Amato indicated that debates on Articles 8-16 were now closed. On 25 March, a new additional session of the Convention will focus on Articles 1-7.
Supremacy of Community law: Mr Amato declared that the debates had revealed the divergences regarding the way in which the principle should be set out and that they "had work to do". He also added that, "Everyone agrees that EU powers are allocated to it by the Member States. There is no controversy on this subject. These powers neither come from God nor Prodi, they come from the Member States. Formulations still have to be found for the final draft".
"Fair cooperation": Mr Amato stated that "Everyone accepts the principle but many find that there is repetition between Articles 8 and 9", which he found to be a fair comment.
"National identity/religions: Elmar Brok is proposing that the content of Article 1 is used from the Amsterdam Treaty and who also explained that the legal status of religious and non-religious organisations agreed on by all Member States, is respected. In other words, the status of separation of church and state, like those that are linked by a concordat, are respected. Giuliano Amato declared that there was more agreement on this issue than disagreement. He did not say whether the Presidium was going to submit a proposal in this direction but pointed out that there were "different opinions within it".
Competencies. Giuliano Amato also stated that, "Today, everyone understands that a catalogue of competencies is needed to provide transparency and clarity to citizens…We are not in the middle of inventing new competencies but simply classifying them, as in the case of the environment". He explained that the central questions was of knowing what "exclusive" meant and that, "Many think that the distinction between exclusive and shared is comprehensible but that the current text is too rigid". There are, importantly, questions on classification of the "four freedoms" of the internal market in "exclusive" or "shared" competencies. Many questions have also been raised about coordination of economic policies and competencies for defining CFSP. There is also a problem concerning Article 15 (accompaniment measures). Some are in favour of the last paragraph indicating that legal Acts are binding and can be adopted to help Member States take action in this area, others, like Alain Lamassoure, want to know why harmonisation is excluded or even limited for certain areas, like sport, for example. Mr Amato explained that these comments would be taken into account.