Brussels, 07/06/2007 (Agence Europe) - Jean-Claude Juncker was at the Committee of the Regions (CoR) on 6 June for an exchange of views with local and regional representatives, meeting for a plenary session (see other article) on “Europe's constitutional future”, an expression, which the Luxembourg prime minister “does not want to talk about” and which he prefers to call the “matrix of a political and legal Europe”.
In order to avoid “opening Pandora's box”, Jean-Claude Juncker appealed for maintaining the substance of the Constitutional Treaty that has been ratified by 18 member states (including Luxembourg). He said that he hoped intergovernmental negotiations on the new treaty are brought to successful close under the Portuguese presidency of the EU, so that the new text can enter into force before the European elections of June 2009. Juncker also called for the new treaty to at least make a reference to the Charter of Fundamental Rights (the legally binding nature of it should be maintained) and said that it should put more emphasis on the economic governance of the eurozone and include a social protocol.
In a slightly mocking tone he asserted that “the Constitutional Treaty would have been 'nicer to read' had he written the text, but Europe now had to 'make the best of it'”. In the context of the “Constitutional Treaty”, Juncker affirmed that he had always opposed this expression because it did not correspond with the feelings of the people of Europe, and the said that the idea that Europe was trying to make itself into a state and get rid of “of everything in our landscape that citizens needed” was incorrect. Jean-Claude Juncker explained that it did not bother him if they got rid of the symbols like the European flag or European anthem (“I find this ridiculous”). However, he added that there were “certain lines that we cannot cross”, such as the Charter of Fundamental Rights. He criticised the EU for its Euro-egoist arrogance and Euro-centrist way of reading the rule book in all corners of the world when it was a matter of putting on paper what affected all citizens and that this should be taken back. The prime minister hammered home the fact that the citizens of Europe (“because Europe is a community of rights”) should be able to refer to the list of rights, which was an advance in terms of democratic maturity. He affirmed that he did not want to give up on this.
Another point that should not be touched: institutional balance. He said that we need a Europe that can decide more quickly, with increased effectiveness when taking decisions that were more democratic and legitimate. The question was then posed of what should be done at the IGC. Juncker replied: 1) elect a president of the European Council. They agreed on this point. Nonetheless, he did say, “I have always been against this idea, I don't like this function as I believe it will damage the work of the president of the European Commission, which will be weakened”; 2) nominate an EU minister for foreign affairs. Juncker said that they should give Javier Solana this role, adding, “We need a new legal basis for the CFSP”. He also exclaimed that the primary right of citizens was to have security. Finally, he asked for the “mini-advances in the social and environmental fields” to be accepted. Juncker then called for the new “Fundamental Treaty” to “respect the broad balances on which they agreed, such as the subsidiarity principle and the concept of territorial cohesion”.
The Socialist mayor of Dunkirk, CoR President Michel Delebarre supported the Luxembourg prime minister's commitment to obtain a swift conclusion to reform, “if possible before 2009”. Delebarre asked Juncker to transmit the Committee's wish to be consulted on the aim of the roadmap that would be adopted at the European Council. Delebarre said that the current Treaties were insufficient and that the Treaty of Nice was not a good starting point for intergovernmental negotiations. He appealed for the substance and spirit of the Treaty to be preserved and indicated that the Committee wanted “a Treaty 'plus', which meant more Europe”.
Following the exchange of views, the Committee of the Regions adopted the own initiative presented by the mayor of Tomar, Antonio Paiva (Portugal, EPP) on reform of the EU and the preparation of the June European Council. In his presentation to the plenary, the rapporteur declared that the goal of this opinion was to “go to the June summit armed with a common Committee position”. This opinion will enable the CoR to invite the heads of state and government to “make a commitment to a swift conclusion of the treaty reform process without going back on the acquis obtained by and for the regional bodies, notably in regard to respect for the subsidiarity principle and good governance, as well as the territorial cohesion of the EU”. The opinion is available at: (http: //http://www.cor.europe.eu .) (gb)