Brussels, 05/05/2009 (Agence Europe) - The outgoing Czech prime minister, Alexandr Vondra, said that he is optimistic that the June European Council will reach an agreement on the “legal guarantees” the EU27 promised the Irish in December, in exchange for a commitment from the Irish government on organising a new referendum on ratification of the Lisbon Treaty before the end of October 2009. The drafting these guarantees is still continuing but Mr Vondra explained to MEPs on Tuesday afternoon at a plenary session in Strasbourg that he was confident that the June summit would be able to approve them. He also said that he was optimistic about the Czech Senate ratifying the new treaty this Wednesday (see other article) but warned against exerting any kind of pressure on Czech senators who had to be “unconditionally independent” in making their choices. Vondra affirmed that “any pressure might prove counterproductive”.
He also indicated that the June European Council would appoint the next president of the Commission in compliance with the procedure included in the Treaty of Nice (a simple vote of confirmation by the EP). Mr Vondra was “fully aware” of the EP's wishes to be involved in this appointments procedure as if the Lisbon Treaty was already in force and said that the Czech Presidency is already “prepared to consult the Parliament immediately after the European elections in the sprit of the Lisbon Treaty”. Vondra also bequeathed his “personal testament” by giving his full support to Mr Barroso, adding: “This is the guy to lead the Commission in the next five years”.
The economic crisis will be another key issue at the June summit. Mr Vondra said that it is important that the EU formulates “further responses” to this crisis, particularly in the context of financial sector regulation and supervision. The European Council will also look at progress in international climate change negotiations in view of the forthcoming Copenhagen conference in December. Mr Vondra asserted that the EU is ready to assume a large part of the costs but the amount of this international financial commitment (as well as the sharing of the burden within the EU27) will depend on the commitment made by other partners, particularly the US.
José Manuel Barroso has not said a word about the appointment of the future president of the Commission but during the debate he did draw up a very positive balance sheet for the Parliament and his own Commission over the past five years. The Commission president told MEPs: “You have a right to be proud of the work accomplished” and highlighted the “positive achievements”. Barroso said that “historic decisions” such as the climate/energy package had been made during this legislature but also many other measures that have had a direct effect on citizens, their security and their freedom. Far-reaching reforms have begun in the internal market, the social agenda, telecommunications, energy, environment, justice and home affairs. Mr Barroso said that on all these points, “the modernisation introduced bore Parliament's imprint”. He congratulated the Czech Presidency and pointed out that so far “almost 50 legislative proposals from the Commission have already been definitively adopted in codecision under the Czech Presidency”. Barroso said that all these concrete results have to be presented to the European citizens who will be electing a new European Parliament in June, “with conviction and clarity”. During the June European Council, the EU is due to confirm its determination to move forward on all levels, despite the economic crisis and the institutional uncertainties surrounding the Lisbon Treaty. On this final point, the summit is expected to adopt the legal guarantees promised to the Irish because the EU has an urgent need for the new treaty, explained Mr Barroso. On climate change, the European Council is also expected to send a clear signal to international partners indicating that the EU keep up the momentum towards an ambitious agreement at Copenhagen in December.
Speaking on the behalf of the EPP-ED, Joseph Daul insisted that the June European Council should “unequivocally” respect the Treaty of Nice and proceed towards the nomination of the next president of the Commission whilst taking into account the European election results (namely, that it must belong to the main political family in the future EP).
Hannes Swoboda (PES) highlighted the importance of consulting the EP before the appointment of the Commission president. Mr Swoboda said that the Socialist Group wants a “change of course” in European policy towards a more social Europe and will only support a president of the Commission who is firmly
committed to this new direction (see other article).
The Commission's recent proposals on hedge funds are insufficient, too porous (“like Swiss cheese”) and therefore “unacceptable”, he said.
Graham Watson (ALDE) complained of the legal uncertainty on the rules (Nice or Lisbon?), which have to apply when renewing the Commission. Watson said that the appointment of the president and rest of the Commission should be done on the same legal basis. He also said that citizens wanted clarity, which meant that it should be either the Treaty of Nice or the Lisbon Treaty that is applied for renewing the whole of the Commission (president and members).
Monica Frassoni (Greens/EFA) considered it unnecessary to rush into appointment of the next Commission president while they did not know what treaty would be applied for the other commissioners. “Salami tactics would be a bad idea” she said and criticised European Socialists for not having proposed an alternative candidate to Barroso: “You demand a political change to a new social Europe but you do not propose a candidate for carrying out this change”. (H.B./transl.rh)