Brussels, 01/10/2004 (Agence Europe) - During the first examination of the proposed European Parliament resolution on the European Constitution by the Committee on Constitutional Affairs, co-rapporteurs Richard Corbett (PES, British) and Inigo Mendez de Vigo (EPP-Ed, Spain) rejected "unfounded" criticism put forward from various sides on the constitutional treaty, but recognised that "the Constitution is what it is, not what each of us would have liked it to be". They thus affirmed that it is wrong to say the Constitution will result in the creation of a super centralised State, that it weakens the social dimension of the Union and that it does not recognise the historical and spiritual roots of Europe. At the same time, the co-rapporteurs mainly regret that the Intergovernmental Conference has been unable to reach an agreement on: extension of qualified majority, a simpler formula for calculating qualified majority, simplified procedure for future revisions of the Constitution and the setting in place of a separate legislative Council.
While the constitutional committee will, on 5 and 6 October, examine the more detailed and legal explanatory statement of the report, Messrs Mendez de Vigo and Corbett pointed out to their colleagues that they had drafted a resolution which "can be read without having a law degree". Noting that the two co-rapporteurs seemed to want to send a message to "The Daily Telegraph, France, Poland and Spain", Alexander Stubb (EPP-Ed, Finland) said the Parliament was to send a positive message to citizens on the Constitution. Considering the criticism on the results of the IGC as "arguments for the next stage", the chairman of the constituional affairs committee, Joe Leinen (PES, Germany) spoke along the same lines, stressing the "political and pedagogical aims" of the Parliament's resolution. The Italian co-president of the Greens/EFA Group, Monica Frassoni, called upon her colleagues to avoid proposing a text which, by citing only the positive elements, could look like propaganda. "One must assume the imperfections of the text", approved by the governments, French Socialist Marie-Line Reynaud agreed. The ideas of the two co-rapporteurs were generally welcomed by the members of the constitutional committee - except for the British opponenets to the Constitution and those from Northern Ireland - as well as by members of other parliamentary committees (Foreign Affairs, Citizens' Freedoms, Development, International Trade).
After examining the explanatory statement of the Mendez de Vigo-Corbett report last week, the constitutional affairs committee will be organising for 25 November a hearing of the civil society in the presence of the representatives of the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions.