Brussels, 10/02/2009 (Agence Europe) - On 9 February, the EP's constitutional affairs committee held a first exchange of views on Jean-Luc Dehaene's (EPP-ED, Belgium) draft report on the impact of the Lisbon treaty on the development of the EU's institutional balance. The lack of antagonistic views in this first debate (almost all speakers from the different political groups welcomed the “exceptional” quality of the work carried out by the former Belgian prime minister) suggest adoption of the report without too many difficulties by the parliamentary committee (vote on 23 March) and the plenary at the end of April.
As we anticipated (EUROPE 9824), the rapporteur proposes that the European Parliament is involved in the appointment of the European Commission's next president after the June European elections, as if the Lisbon treaty were already in application. Even if the Treaty of Nice is still in force, Heads of State and governments will “officially” have to take into account, “the spirit of Lisbon” and the increase in EP powers as acquired under the new treaty, explained Mr Dehaene. This idea is in danger of not going down too well at the Czech presidency of the EU, which would like the European Council to appoint José Manuel Barroso's successor in June (under its presidency) in accordance with the Treaty of Nice procedure. Moreover, according to the scenario proposed by Mr Dehaene, this decision is not expected to be taken before July (under the Swedish presidency) so that there is enough time for consultation with the new EP elected.
The rapporteur suggests a detailed procedure and calendar to follow at the beginning of each legislature (in any case from 2014 onwards), namely: 1st and 2nd weeks after the European elections: setting up of the political groups at the EP; 3rd week after the elections: the acting president of the European Council consults the presidents of the political groups at the EP; 4th week after election: the European Council appoints by qualified majority its candidate for the presidency of the Commission and by taking into account the consultations carried out with the EP; 5th and 6th weeks after the elections: the president of the Commission is “elected” by the European Parliament (according to the Lisbon treaty rules) after a hearing; from the end of July to the beginning of September, the president of the Commission elected reaches an agreement with the European Council on the appointment of the High Representative (HR) and proposes the list of Commissioners; in September, the European Council adopts the list of Commissioners presented, including the HR; September/October: hearings of the proposed Commissioners and HR at the European Parliament; before mid-October: the EP “vote” on whole college of Commissioners, including the president of the Commission and HR (vice president of the Commission); mid-October: the European Council approves the new Commission; November: the European Council elects its permanent presidency.
Mr Dehaene is aware of the fact that this calendar will not be able to be respected this year due to the uncertainty persisting about the date of the second referendum in Ireland on the Lisbon treaty (September or October?) and about the possible entry into force of the new treaty. The EP vote on the college of Commissioners will not be possible until Lisbon is in force either (in a working document accompanying his draft report, Mr Dehaene affirms that, “according to the most optimistic version…at the beginning of 2010”). In the event of an Irish “no” vote, the Commission size will have to be reduced in compliance with the Treaty of Nice, points out the rapporteur. His report does not directly mention the possibility of keeping the current Commission in place beyond its remit terminates on 31 October 2009. But in the event of the new team not being ready on 1st November (because it will be necessary to wait for the Lisbon treaty to enter into force and which is the only treaty that can allow for the promise made to the Irish to be kept on each member state keeping its “own” European Commissioner in the future). In the working document, Mr Dehaene notes that, “the present Commission should remain operational but its powers will very probably be reduced to managing current affairs…We can imagine such a situation lasting a few weeks or indeed two months but no longer”. Due to all these uncertainties, the rapporteur considers that it is essential that the EP and European Council conclude an agreement in the next few months on this procedure to follow on appointments after the June European elections. “If not, I fear chaos”, explained Dehaene on Monday, addressing the EP's constitutional affairs committee. (H.B./trans/rh)