Rome, 10/12/2003 (Agence Europe) - The Federal Council of the International European Movement (IEM), meeting in Rome on December 6th, appealed to the Heads of State and Government with a view to the Intergovernmental Conference on Friday and Saturday. The European Movement presided by José Maria Gil-robles notes that the "IEM was justified in demanding the replacement - for the elaboration of the European Constitution and its future reforms - of the intergovernmental process of the organisation of the ICG with that of the Convention".
The IEM continues: "Bequeathed with considerable legitimacy through the participation of the national parliaments and the European Parliament, as well as from the governments of the member states of the Commission, the significant developments of the Draft Constitution - most notably the binding characteristic of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, progress in transparency and democracy in the elaboration of European laws and in the election of the President of the Commission, the success of a Constitutional text, in a coherent language and comprehensive to citizens, the clarification of that which the Union must do, and that which States must carry out, and the primacy of Community law - were drawn from the ICG. Other advances concerning a permanent, structured cooperation, open in regards to defence issues, the extension of the communitarian procedure in the domain of Justice and Home Affairs, the confirmation of a European Minister for Foreign Affairs and other institutional aspects (the composition of the Commission, minimum number of parliamentary seats held by the smaller member states and the organisation of criteria for the rotation of the Presidency of the Council) can and must be introduced on the basis of the draft Constitution of the Convention".
The IEM admits that the "removal of the Legislative Council, which would have led to greater transparency and efficiency, would represent, if carried out, a significant step backwards. The International European Movement urges that the text of the Convention on this subject be maintained and that the legislative meetings of the Council remain public".
At a general level, the IEM also makes an urgent appeal to the Heads of State and Government "for the preservation of the essential elements of the propositions of the Convention, the nature of which cannot be changed" and "approves and supports the joint declaration as addressed by the parliamentarians members of the Convention to the IGC on December 5th, 2003 in Brussels".
According to the IEM, "this respect for major comprises, which is the result of the dynamism of the Convention, calls for courageous decisions to be taken by the Heads of State and Government during the Summit of Brussels (…), in order to reach a consensus which would be up to the challenges which the Union finds itself confronted with at this crucial moment for its future. A European spirit and a will to reach a consensus are now required in order to create a text which satisfies the expectations of the peoples of Europe, and which may be approved by a large majority of citizens and their parliaments. In the unfortunate instance where this consensus would not be reached, the IEM asks that the governments who have the political will take the initiative so as to progress with integration on the basis of the constitutional draft of the Convention".