Paris, 19/01/2004 (Agence Europe) - During a hearing in Paris last week, Armand De Decker, President of the Assembly of the Western European Union, and Hubert Haenel, President of the French Senate Delegation for European Affairs, stressed the need to ensure the control of the European Security and Defence Policy by national parliaments. According to a press release, Mr Haenel (former Convention member) expressed regret that the impression had been given by some that "good Europeans are in Brussels, bad ones in national parliaments". Christian Poncelet, Senate President, spoke against the threat that the WEU Assembly could disappear "without anything in the EU to replace it". Mr Poncelet also said that the French Senate was willing to host an event to mark the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Paris protocols establishing the Assembly, on 23 October 1954.
During the hearing, Mr De Decker said that France's full involvement in NATO's integrated military structures would do much to allay US and British suspicions. To Senator Pierre Biarnès, who pointed out that Charles de Gaulle had decided to withdraw France from these structures to preserve France's autonomy, Mr De Decker replied; "if General de Gaulle were alive today, he would pursue a policy that would allow Europe to achieve strategic autonomy".