Brussels, 26/04/2006 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 26 April, France published a contribution to the debate on improvements to the European institutions that are possible without amending existing treaties, which it submitted to the other countries on the Council, the President of the European Parliament and the President of the European Commission. It suggests making the institutions more effective in terms of domestic security and justice, EU foreign policy, social policy and economic governance. It suggests boosting the democratic nature of the EU by extending the powers of the European Parliament, getting national parliaments more involved and making Council work more open. France's ideas come during the reflection pause on the future of the European Union, launched in June 2005 after the French and Dutch no votes on the constitutional treaty. EU foreign ministers will be meeting in Vienna (Austria) on 27 and 28 May to hold their first debate on the reflection period, and the European Commission will be holding a special seminar this Thursday and Friday.
French diplomatic sources say the French document is not France's answer to the question of what should be done about the constitution, and neither did it mean that the time had come to relaunch the institutional debate because the debate on the future of the constitution cannot be solved at the moment and because since the Hampton Court Summit, the priority has been tangible action to boost growth and employment. The diplomat said it was not France's aim to show that it is possible to act without a constitution.
All the same, the diplomat said it is possible to perfect the system based on the existing treaties through a series of small steps. The first proposals look at how to make the European institutions more effective. The French document says that the bridging clause in the European treaty (Article 42) could be used in the domain of domestic security and justice to make it possible to move further down the party of qualified majority (as opposed to unanimous) voting, qmv for police and criminal justice cooperation and combatting racism and xenophobia. The diplomat said a precedent was set up in December 2004 for asylum and immigration matters.
Progress could also be made in improving the effectiveness and coherence of the EU's foreign affairs, said the diplomat, mooting several ideas: 1) beefing up the mandate of EU High Representative for CFSP, Javier Solana, when it comes to crisis management and foreign representation; 2) Solana being more involved in preparatory work for the Council; 3) greater coherence between the Council and the Commission on the managing of foreign initiatives, through joint meetings, rationalising EU presence in the field and greater exchange of officials. France argues that significant progress is required in the EU's capacity to respond to crises and the diplomat commented that a Barnier mission was underway (the former French foreign minister and erstwhile European Commissioner will submit a report on civilian aspects of crisis management in June).
In the social arena, the French diplomat suggests extending qmv to worker protection in the event of redundancy, and also for collective bargaining and the representation of workers' and employers' interests. But the diplomat said no consensus was in sight on qmv for employment conditions for workers from outside the EU.
France wants reflection to be undertaken in the very near future on how to improve the way the eurozone functions and also to establish better political coordination. It suggests bringing EU schedules in line with national schedules, submitting stability programmes in April rather than December and using common macroeconomic hypotheses. The prices of oil could also be set in euros, suggests France, and it would be possible to increase the eurozone's visibility in international financial institutions.
Suggestions to extend qmv at the Council would make it possible to strengthen the EP's powers because it would become a co-legislator. The French diplomat mentioned the decision on comitology currently being revised, in which the EP should be more involved when application measures for EU framework legislation are adopted. European institutions could issue a joint statement pledging to take account of opinions submitted on EU activities by COSAC (a body representing national parliaments). The Council's rules of procedure, like publicity in the end stages of negotiations, should be changed to make its work more transparent. The more open it is, the more the real talks will take place elsewhere though, admitted the diplomat.
European Parliament (Plenary Session)