Brussels, 29/09/2005 (Agence Europe) - Monica Frassoni, Co-President (with Daniel Cohn-Bendit) of the Greens/EFA Group at the European Parliament, was greatly disappointed upon leaving the meeting of the political leaders of the Parliament's political groups with President Barroso, on Wednesday in Strasbourg. “Our inter-institutional relationship is rapidly becoming as difficult as it was ten years ago. But surprisingly, the leaders of the three main political parties today completely failed to play their role as scrutinisers of the Commission. They instead gave their full support to the Commission President”, the Italian Green member said in a press release diffused on Wednesday evening. She continued: “Barroso is trying to hide his lack of political vision behind the two magic words: “better regulation”. In doing so, he aims to reconquer the trust and confidence of Europe's citizens. But … he needs good policies instead. Regarding policy, Barroso is, unfortunately, doing exactly the opposite of what he is claiming to do - that is, strengthening social and environmental standards. In the course of a year, the extent of the Commission's dependence on industrial lobbies has become embarrassing, and the credibility of his praised 'impact assessments' is increasingly undermined. The President's role, as initiator of legislation, is in danger of becoming corrupted”.
Ms Frassoni listed the misdeeds she believes the Commission has committed toward the Parliament, concerning above all: - On the REACH chemical legislation, the “Commission presented - apparently without having consulted the competent Commissioners Wallström and Dimas - a 'compromise text' which surprised everybody and essentially represents the projects' funeral. He did this just a few days before an important parliamentary committee vote on REACH”; - for legislation on air pollution the Commission ordered an impact assessment costing EUR 2 million. “This impact assessment apparently did not produce the 'right' conclusions and, after receiving a critical letter from the Employers Association, UNICE, the Commission simply dropped it”; - On the TV without Frontiers directive, “he Commission stubbornly refuses to include the notion of media pluralism despite unanimous and repeated votes in Parliament”; - as far as comitology goes, “the Commission did not respect its formal commitments of informing the Parliament in 50 cases and three pieces of legislation are blocked as a result”.