Brussels, 20/07/2006 (Agence Europe) - The interests of the new Member States must be better represented in the democratic process in the EU, said Hungarian MEP Jozsef Szajer, deputy leader of the EPP-ED group at a meeting with press in mid-July. He says that ways had to be found, particularly in communication, to cause the new Member States to become more involved in the European political debate. Mr Szajer, who was a member of the European Convention, was particularly sorry that, within his group, “there is not enough room for strategic discussions” (for example, during the delicate debate on the draft “services” directive) and that the representatives of the new Member States in the Council remain “very silent” most of the time. At the last enlargement, which saw the accession of his country, Hungary, the EU was not prepared in the face of the “fifty years imprisonment” to which the former Soviet Union satellite states had been subjected, he said.
Speaking about a possible move by British Conservatives in the European Parliament to a new Eurosceptical group (see EUROPE 9233 on David Cameron's announcement of his intention to do so after the 2009 European elections and the reaction of Hans-Gert Pöttering), Mr Szajer said that the Tories continued to be “full members of the EPP-ED group” and that it would be a pity if they were to leave, in that, as a whole, the group would then “turn more to the left”. Even if they decide to leave the EPP-ED, “we will still have the majority in the Parliament,” he said stressing that such a move would do “more damage” to the Conservatives than within the EPP-ED.