Broad support for Commission initiative for IGC to be matched with dialogue with citizens

17/02/2000 (Agence Europe)

The European Commission has launched an initiative with a view to ensuring an ongoing dialogue with citizens throughout the Intergovernmental Conference, announced the Institutional Affairs Commissioner Michel Barnier, at Parliament's plenary session. All the Commissioners will participate in this "dialogue for Europe and on Europe", every time they visit any of the Member States, and they will speak not only with the elite, but answer questions and listen to young people in universities and secondary schools, explained Mr Barnier. He added that this initiative was taken in agreement with Commissioners Viviane Reding and Günter Verheugen. Mr Barnier spoke of an obligation of remedying the democratic deficit and said the Commission, to ensure the success of the dialogue, was counting on the cooperation of all. He welcomed the initiative of the EP Committee on Constitutional Affairs chaired by Giorgio Napolitano to organise regular meetings on the IGC with representatives of national parliaments.

During a brief debate, Mr Napolitano (Democratici di sinistra) raised the problem of coordinating the initiatives of the different institutions, while British Conservative Mr Beazley asked about the scope of Parliament's involvement in the IGC: Mr Barnier recalled that the Parliament has two representatives at the Conference - Mr Brok and Mr Tsatsos - and reaffirmed that he will himself be "available, in all transparency" to brief MEPs on the unfolding of the IGC. Some MEPs welcomed the Commission'swillingness to dialogue not only in the capitals but also at regional and local level: as did Scottish Green member Mr McCormick and British Labour member Mr Corbett, who invited Mr Barnier to go into the constituency of Yorkshire. Mr Barnier said he thought they would also like him to go to speak of Structural Funds, adding that he had just spoken of the IGC in Westminster and that he was not afraid of difficulties, and would soon be going to Berlin, to the Bundestag.

Some MEPs seized this opportunity to raise the problem of transparency. According to Ms Maij-Weggen (EPP, NL), what the Commission envisages in this field is only the "pale reflection" of what is happening in her country. Mr Bonde (Europe of Democracies and Diversities) also expressed concern about the generalised use of majority voting. Mr Barnier replied that the Commission has made proposals on this subject "without ideology" and that Denmark is also interested in the good working of the internal market. He observed that "our proposal is not general but systematic", mainly as far as tricky matters such as taxation are concerned.

In response to Mr Berthu (Union for a Europe of Nations, France), who denounced the "dominant European way of thinking" and who questioned him on possible reinforcement of Article 7 of the EU Treaty, Mr Barnier replied that, if this article were to be amended ("and I am not sure we shall do this") it will not only be to react to a specific situation (the Austrian situation), but also thinking of the future in general.

Finally, elected member on Lista Bonino Mr Dupuis recalled that the EU Court of Justice is currently dealing with the working of OLAF. He asked Mr Barnier whether the Commission has thought about the possibility of entrusting the fight against fraud to the Court of Justice. Mr Barnier recalled quite simply that the Commission has not yet made proposals to the IGC concerning the Court of Justice, but that it has taken on board the idea of creating the post of European prosecutor general responsible above all for the fight against fraud to the detriment of the EU budget as, he said, judicial cooperation is no longer enough.