Brussels, 02/05/2006 (Agence Europe) - On 25 April in the European Parliament, the contribution to European integration of Fernand Herman, Belgian Minister, MEP from 1979 to 1999, President of the Union of European Federalists (UEF) and the Pegasus Foundation, who died last year, was honoured by MEPs and former European commissioners who knew him during his many years of work for a united Europe. At the first sessin, led by Nicolas Estgen, president of the Pegasus Foundation, the leader of the European People's Party (EPP) Wilfried Martens described Fernand Herman as the “conscience of the EPP”, and mentioned some of the 36 parliamentary reports he produced over 20 years: from the 1982 report on the electronics market and its consequences for employment to the one on economic and monetary union in 1990 and the 1994 report on a constitution for Europe. Fernand Herman, a “model parliamentarian”, put the deepening of the EU before enlargement, recalled his former EP colleague Marianne Thyssen, while Friedhelm Frischenschlager UEF Secretary General highlighted his federalist commitment.
MEP Jean-Louis Bourlanges, who met Herman on the benches of the EPP, although he is now a member of the Alliance of Liberal Democrats for Europe group, spoke of the reasons for Herman's European commitment, his “Belgian-ness” (“Belgium is not just a country, it is a European institution”) and his “particularly demanding vision of Europe” (he knew that Europe “can only exist if it constitutes a fully fledged political body”). Mr Bourlanges wondered what Fernand would do today. The answer, he felt, was clear: Herman would not be for a “Europe without borders, without real institutions, a sort of English-style gentlemen's club for reflection and discussion, usually on topics of lesser importance”, he would choose the other alternative consisting of “working pragmatically from the monetary Union, not towards strengthened, but uncertain, cooperation, but towards something like a genuine core, as suggested by Karl Lamers” (the suggestion by the CDU MEP and Wolfgang Schäuble was made in 1994). “Guy Verhofstadt has put forward some interesting ideas, but he remains vague on the institutional level,” added Mr Bourlanges (see EUROPE 9177 on the Belgian Prime Minister's proposals).
During the second session, chaired by Franklin Dehousse, (Belgian) judge at the Court of First Instance, former European Commissioners Karel Van Miert (Transport, then Competition) and Mario Monti (Internal Market, then Competition), after speaking of the warm relations they had with Fernand Herman, raised the question of the link between the current constitutional deadlock and economic and financial integration. “The difficulties of the constitutional process are having a negative effect on economic integration and even the economic climate,” said Mr Monti, going on that the persistent uncertainty was doing little to encourage “major international companies to come and invest in Europe”. Another negative consequence of the temporary cessation of discussion on the Constitution was probably the recent appearance of “questionable displays of economic nationalism”, added Mr Monti, noting that the rejection of the European Constitution by citizens could encourage “the political calculation in certain States that measures which are a little more nationalist are popular”. Mr Van Miert also acknowledged this link, insisting, “The democratic game only works if the institutions are strong”, and “insofar as institutions are weakened, considerable risks are also being taken for the internal market”. “The impact of weakening the European Commission is underestimated,” he warned, recalling the time when there was a certain level of complicity between the Commission and the Parliament to take European integration forward (Fernand and I did not belong to the same political family, said the former leader of the Flemish Socialist Party, but he “helped me a lot” when I was a Commissioner and I was working, for example, on the liberalisation of air transport and telecommlunications).
During the seminar, the book Europa Patria Mea - Chronicle of fifteen years of European political, economic and social life, a compilation of articles written by Fernand Herman in the newspaper Le Courrier de la Bourse et de la Banque was presented (EUROPE will return to this).