The 3rd Committee,

- underlining the need and the urgency to transform the whole of the relations among the member States of the European Community into a federally-based Union according to a specific agenda, working method and orientations, and on the basis of a constitution project developed by the European Parliament (Colombo report), and considering that any immediate modifications of the Treaties will need to be adopted on the basis of the European Parliament's proposals (Martin, Herman report);

- recalling that the Italian government had already included the modification of articles 236 EEC and 204 CEEA as fundamental elements of the agenda of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers of the Community with the purpose of closely linking the European Parliament to the modifications of the Treaties of Rome, and that it appears increasingly necessary to anticipate the spirit of such modification with political decisions on the occasion of the next intergovernmental conference; moreover recalling that already on the occasion of the intergovernmental conference of Luxembourg, the Italian Government had linked its opinion on the conclusions of such Conference to the ratification on the part of the European Parliament;

- considering that the resolution adopted on 6 November 1990 by the European Parliament's institutional affairs committee, relative to the opinion on the summons of the intergovernmental conferences on the UEM and on political Union, and especially the decision "to give a negative opinion, rebus sic stantibus" and the request to the President of the European Parliament "to summon the preparatory interinstitutional Conference at once, in agreement with the presidency of the European Council and with the Council, in order to enable the necessary and timely progress in the summons of the intergovernmental Conferences, so that the European Parliament may change its opinion, as is to be hoped";

- believing that the concern expressed by the European Parliament's institutional affairs committee regarding the lack of guaranties for "the inclusion in the treaties of fundamental liberties, the reform of the system of autonomous resources, the acknowledgment of the double democratic legitimacy, the enhancement of regional autonomies and the transformation of the Community into a federally-based Union" are absolutely grounded;

- moreover, believing it necessary to include the full competence of the Community as regards social policies in the treaties; expressing its support to the requests advanced by the European Parliament in the resolutions of 23 November 1989, 14 March, 11 July and 25 October 1990 as well as by the President Baron Crespo at the European Council on 27 October 1990, concerning the European Parliament's role in the intergovernmental conferences;

binds the Government:

- to act in the institutions of the Community to request the European Parliament to develop a report on the European Union (including precise proposals on the procedures for its achievement and on the fundamental elements of the mandate it will be given) to be submitted as a matter of discussion at the next European Council;

- to state that, in any case, the Italian Government's attitude on the conclusions of the intergovernmental conferences will need to be fully coherent with the passage of such conclusions on the part of the European Parliament.