A long way still to go. The constitutive session of the newly elected European Parliament is the event of the week; its echo should be heard well beyond the narrow limits of Community circles, guiding people to a broader and better understanding of this Parliament's increasing power in how the EU works and in the way legislation is passed, having a definite effect, then, on the daily lives of all citizens. The sometimes disappointing turnout in the elections for this Parliament (particularly in certain Central and Eastern European countries) shows that the Parliament still has a long path to tread.
Is it necessary to repeat that this situation in no way diminishes the legitimacy of the Parliament? People were invited to vote on the type of European unity they wanted, with the possibility of voting for Eurosceptics, and even those opposed to European unity itself. Those who chose not to mark their preference have no right to complain. And anyway, the quality of those elected has not been diminished in any way, even in those member states where turnout was very low. One MEP of long experience, while suggesting that “the latest EU enlargements came too soon,” added: “I was very pleased to welcome many MEPs from the eastern part of the Union. Their intrinsic quality is far higher than the average in other countries: they work hard, speak several languages and virtually all of them can converse in Russian, which is an advantage”.
Role of the President in a multinational Parliament where there is no absolute majority. Everyone knows that the President of this new Parliament, to be elected on Tuesday, will be Polish. The consensus around Jerzy Buzek is very broad, almost unanimous, and this has to be welcomed for several reasons: a) it is usual for this post to be attributed to an MEP from the largest political group; b) it is significant that he comes from an eastern member state, the President of which is massively Eurosceptic, his dearest dream being to bring about the fall of the Lisbon Treaty - that Mr Buzek received by far the most preferential votes in his country shows that the Euroscepticism of the President of the Republic is an anomaly; c) it is, in my opinion, a definite plus that Mr Buzek is seen as a “moderate”, balanced and open, always seeking consensus.
I am well aware that, for some observers, this balance will be seen more as a fault than as a quality. I cannot agree. I take the view that the President of the EP must be the president of all: the very principle of a rotating presidency (in two and a half years' time, a Socialist will take over as President) requires this to be so. In this Parliament, there is no absolute majority without alliances and compromises. It would, then, be unthinkable that the positions of one political side always won the day unchanged, unamened, just as it would be dramatic if one country or group of countries was systematically ignored. Everyone knows just how far resolution of a number of key European issues (the Bolkestein directive, the energy-climate change package, and others) depended on cooperation between various political groups. Jerzy Buzek will work on behalf of the institution and for European integration, not for a political group. We await his first speech with great interest (in which, I hope, at least passing reference will be made to that extraordinary personality, Bronislaw Geremek).
Importance (and changes) of Parliamentary committees. The make-up of the Parliamentary committees and the appointment of their chairmen and women is every bit as important, I believe, even though these things will not attract the same attention from the public or from the press which places greater importance on the attendance of an MEP in the plenary session for a sometimes relatively unimportant vote than on the work done in committee to prepare Community legislation that will be enforced throughout the EU and will affect the lives of all its citizens. The chairmanships and how some Parliamentary committees are made up can sometimes have a great impact, and the vagaries of the elections in some member states will ensure significant changes compared with the situation in the previous Parliament. I have noticed, in particular, that the Socialists will lose the chairmanship of the economic and monetary committee, which will go to the Liberal group. Other significant changes are expected; it will be useful to come back to this later.
Other issues that cannot be ignored. Many other points in this constitutive session are worthy of comment, beginning with the most spectacular: the decision to delay the vote on the President of the European Commission. Relations with national parliaments must not be forgotten, following the ruling by the German Constitutional Court on respective powers in European matters (see this column in newsletter No 9934). This is an issue that the new EP will not be able to neglect. Nor must this column.
(F.R./transl.rt)