Strasbourg, 10/04/2003 (Agence Europe) - The Conference of Presidents of the political groups at the European Parliament discussed the situation, on Thursday in Strasbourg, caused by the elimination of a session in the timetable for 2004 adopted on Wednesday by the EP (see yesterday's EUROPE, p.4). President Cox felt that the Parliament cannot keep to this timetable as it must comply with the Treaty and the Court's jurisprudence with regards the number of sittings held in Strasbourg, but that it must also assume its responsibilities concerning the investiture of new Commissioners. The presidents of the EPP-ED Group, Hans-Gert Pöttering, and of the ELDR Group, Graham Watson, spoke along the same lines, while Enrique Baron, PES President, justified the position adopted by the plenary. He said that the initial timetable proposed had the disadvantage of accumulating three motives for opposition: - two consecutive weeks of sittings in April; - an extended session on Saturday; - and a Saturday session that coincided with May 1st. It should be noted that, according to an EP spokesperson, there is a precedent to this, since the Parliament met in plenary session on Saturday 1 May in 1998, for launching the single currency and nominating the president of the ECB.
The presidents of the Groups agreed to seek a solution during the next meeting.
Immediately after the vote, elected members of "Mouvement pour la France", Georges Berthu, Thierry de la Perrière, Elizabeth Montfort, Dominique Souchet and Alexandre Varau, called on the French government to "take action at the Court of Justice against this illegal vote". The EP "is not a sovereign assembly. It only has powers specifically conferred upon it by the Treaty, with which it must comply", they state in a press release in which they criticise "anti-Strasbourg" members for wanting once again to "reduce the number of sessions held in this town". However, "once again, the vote runs counter to the Treaty which fixes the number of periods for monthly plenary sessions in Strasbourg at 12 per year", MEPs say. They express indignation that "this vote is the result, among other things, of absurd manoeuvring by Socialists who want to do away with the last April session in order not to have to work on 1 May".
In a press release, French Socialist Marie-Hélène Gillig, Town Councillor in Strasbourg, recalls that she had proposed deferring the week abolished, i.e. 28 April to 1 May, until the following week. If we had voted for a two-day session in the "week after May 1st, we would at least have had the merit of following a coherent policy in relation to the massive vote in favour of enlargement", she said (since MEPs were to welcome their colleagues from the ten new Member States on 1 May). Ms Gillig also recalls that the EP must hold at least twelve plenary sessions a year in Strasbourg, and specifies that it is accepted that this number may fall to 11 sittings during election periods, but that this rule "was challenged by the vote of MEPs who adopted a 10-sitting timetable" in Strasbourg.
Indignation was also expressed by the French members of the EPP-ED Group. Margie Sudre and Marielle de Sarnez, who called for this vote "tainted with illegality" to be cancelled, protest saying: "this vote is legally and politically unacceptable". The treaties, the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice and the Edinburgh decision of 12 December 1992, they say in a press release, very clearly state that twelve plenary sessions should be held in Strasbourg annually "before envisaging the addition of extra mini plenary sessions in Brussels". Regarding the suppression of the plenary on 1 May, they comment: "after having triumphantly approved the assent on accession treaties, parliamentarians voted against the official session which is to celebrate the reunification of a wider European family".
Quite different views are expressed by members of the "Campaign for Parliament Reform" founded by Michiel van Hulten, Helle Thorning-Schmidt, Catherine Stihler (Socialist Group), Chris Heaton-Harris, Piia-Noora Kauppi (EPP-ED), Nick Clegg, Cecilia Malmström (Liberal Group) and Kathalijne Buitenweg (Greens/EFA). In a press release, they welcome this vote which, they say, is the result of their "concerted effort". In their view, they say, the Parliament should meet only in Brussels. They note, moreover, that the Parliament had abolished, in 2000, the Friday morning sessions in Strasbourg, and that this year the "pro-Strasbourg lobby did not try to reintroduce them". (These sittings were very badly attended and hidden cameras had caught MEPs signing the attendance list before rushing to the airport, the press release states). The arrival of MEPs from the new Member States will strengthen our anti-Strasbourg campaign, the MEPs say, pointing out that the EP took a stance on Tuesday against a proposal from the Bureau to build two new buildings in Strasbourg to house new representatives. The press release also points out that the sitting scheduled for 1 May to host the representatives of the ten new Member States should be held in Brussels, at another date.