Brussels, 02/06/2003 (Agence Europe) - The representatives of heads of government of six Member States and three acceding countries have delivered a contribution to the European Convention Praesidium opposing the renegotiation of the "institutional package" agreed in Nice. They point out that the agreement covers the distribution of seats at the European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, the composition of the Commission and the voting system at the Council. The Nice institutional agreement is not perfect, we are aware of it, but it balances out the various interests at stake and despite the criticisms that some are wont to make, we believe it can still be of use to the EU, note the signatories, who do not hesitate to affirm that the consensus already achieved at the Convention could be jeopardised if the Convention attempts to negotiate the package.
The document signatories are: Alfonso Dastis (Spain), Hannes Farnleitner (Austria), Dick Roche (Ireland), Lena Hjelm-Wallen (Sweden), Peter Hain (UK), Henning Christophersen (Denmark), Danuta Hubner (Poland), Rytis Martikonis (Lithuania) and Michalis Attalides (Cyprus).