Strasbourg, 14/03/2003 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament's European Constitution Intergroup, which met in Strasbourg, expressed its satisfaction that the draft protocols presented by the Praesidium of the European Convention on the role of national parliaments and on subsidiarity considerably improve access by Member States' Parliaments to the EU's legislative proposals and its political strategy. At the same time, several MEPs are concerned that the proposed early warning system, which would, for the first time, give national parliaments "the right directly to influence the European legislator", would bring about the creation "by the back door" of the third chamber rejected by the majority of the Convention.
Intergroup also welcomed the Praesidium's proposal to reduce the resources available to the Union to carry out its competencies to "six basic instruments" (law, framework law, regulation, decision, recommendation and opinion: see EUROPE of 1 March, p.3, on the presentation of the draft articles by President Giscard d'Estaing). At the same time, Intergroup hopes that there will not be "too many exemptions from this scheme in terms of foreign and security policy and of justice and home affairs".