(a) A3-0384/91

RESOLUTION

embodying the opinion of the European Parliament on the convening

of Intergovernmental Conferences with a view to the amendment of

the ECSC and EAEC Treaties

The European Parliament,

- having regard to Article 96 of the ECSC Treaty and Article

204 of the EAEC Treaty,

- having regard to the Council's letter of 12 November 1991

requesting its opinion on the proposal for a meeting of the

Intergovernmental Conferences with a view to the amendment

of the ECSC and EAEC Treaties (C3-0403/91),

- having regard to its resolution of 16 January 1992 on the

integration of the ECSC and EAEC Treaties into the EEC

Treaty,

- having regard to the report of the Committee on

Institutional Affairs (A3-0384/91),

A. recalling the obvious fact that Political Union requires

the revision of all the treaties establishing the European

Communities, on the basis of which the European Parliament

has been asking to be consulted since its resolution of 11

July 1990 on the Intergovernmental Conference in the

context of Parliament's strategy for European Union and in

particular in its resolution of 22 November 1990 embodying

its opinion on the convening of the Intergovernmental

Conferences on Economic and Monetary Union and on Political

Union;

1. Is astonished at this hasty, last-minute consultation -

despite the European Parliament's reminders on this subject

over the last year or more - which is evidence of the

inefficiency of the Council and intergovernmental

procedures;

2. Supports the convening of the Intergovernmental Conferences

on the basis of acceptance by the Council of the following

undertakings:

(a) the matters governed by the ECSC and EAEC Treaties

should be integrated into the EEC Treaty in order to

achieve what was announced in 1965 in Article 32 of the

Merger Treaty;

(b) the amendments made to the ECSC and EAEC Treaties

during the present exercise should at least provide for

parallel adaptation of the institutional and decision-

making machinery of these Treaties to the new EEC

treaty system, including the legislative procedures and

the provisions for approving international agreements;

points out that, unless adapted, the ECSC and the EAEC

Treaties would:

(i) contain no assent procedures, even for Articles

equivalent to those where the EEC Treaty will

so provide, e.g. Articles 101 (international

agreements), 4 (amendment to Annex I) and 54

(statutes of supply agency), of the EAEC Treaty;

(ii) contain no co-decision procedures, even for

Articles equivalent to those where the EEC

Treaty will so provide, e.g. Articles 7

(research programme) and 31 (basic health and

safety standards), of the EAEC Treaty;

(iii) contain no cooperation procedures, even for

Articles equivalent to those where the EEC

Treaty so provides, e.g. Articles 9

(establishment of institute), 47 (establishment

of joint undertakings), 50 (amendment of

statutes of joint undertakings), and 96

(discrimination on grounds of nationality), of

the EAEC Treaty;

(iv) not even provide for Parliament to be consulted

in a number of areas where the Council adopts

legislative provisions on a proposal of the

Commission, e.g. Articles 4, 7, 9, 24, 25, 41,

42, 47, 48, 50, 54, 69, 78, 101 and 197 of the

EAEC Treaty;

(v) retain procedures which allow certain categories

of treaty amendment without approval by the

European Parliament or any national parliament

(Articles 4, 76, 85 and 90 of the EAEC Treaty);

(c) the results of the Intergovernmental Conferences will

be put to the European Parliament with a view to an

agreement between the Intergovernmental Conferences and

the Parliament on the proposals to be submitted for

ratification to the national parliaments;

3. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the

Council, the Commission and the Governments and Parliaments

of the Member States.

1(b)A3-0349/91

RESOLUTION

on the integration of the ECSC and EAEC treaties into the EEC

Treaty

The European Parliament,

- having regard to the motion for a resolution by Mr Martin

on the incorporation of the objects of the ECSC Treaty and

the EAEC Treaty into the EEC Treaty (B3-1943/90),

- having regard to the Darmstadt Ecology Institute's study on

proposals for revision of the Treaties establishing the

European Communities in the energy sector,

- having regard to the report by its Committee on

Institutional Affairs and the opinions of the Committee on

Economic and Monetary Affairs and Industrial Policy and the

Committee on Energy, Research and Technology (A3-0349/91),

A. whereas the ECSC Treaty is due to expire in 2002,

B. whereas the convention on certain institutions common to the

European Communities of 25 March 1957 and the Merger Treaty

of 8 April 1965 amalgamated the institutions of the three

Communities,

C. having regard to the Commission communication of 15 March

1991 on the future of the ECSC Treaty (SEC (91) 0407),

D. having regard to the regrettable divergences in decision-

making procedures under the three treaties, which hamper

vital transparency and thus detract from the legitimacy of

the Communities' activities,

E. having regard to the interinstitutional conflicts stemming,

in particular, from the increased divergences between the

machinery of the institutions resulting from the Single

European Act, leading to numerous disputes over the

selection of correct legal bases that are taken as far as

the European Court of Justice and damage the transparency

and legitimacy of action taken by Community bodies;

1. Advocates that the objects of the ECSC and EAEC Treaties

should be incorporated into the EEC Treaty at the earliest

opportunity; calls for the necessary work to start

immediately and expects it to be completed and forwarded to

the Member States for ratification no later than the

intergovernmental conference planned for 1996;

2. Emphasises the need for the ECSC budgetary and financial

system to be incorporated into that of the EEC;

3. Believes that the levy procedure provided for in the ECSC

Treaty should also be applied for the purposes of objectives

laid down in the present EEC Treaty;

4. Calls for the standardization of legislative and

implementing procedures in a treaty establishing a single

European Community, as provided for as long ago as 1965 in

Article 32 of the Merger Treaty;

5. Sees the impending expiry of the ECSC Treaty, with the

financial effects this will have on lending and borrowing

capacity, as an appropriate opportunity to achieve this

goal;

6. Calls for a joint decision-making procedure on the

following lines:

- all constitutional decisions should require Council

unanimity and the assent of a majority of the Members

of the European Parliament, as well as ratification by

the Member States (for example, Articles 138, 201, 236

and 237 of the EEC Treaty);

- all decisions involving laws should come under a co-

decision procedure, in which the Council and Parliament

have equal rights;

- items of legislation, which by way of exception

continue to require unanimous decision by the Council

(for example, Article 235 of the EEC Treaty), should

be enacted with the assent of the European Parliament;

- implementing provisions should be enacted either by the

Member States or by the Commission, where appropriate

in conjunction with a committee procedure; in the

latter event both chambers of the legislature shall

have the power of legislative retrieval;

7. Rejects as spurious the argument of alleged technical

difficulties in integrating the ECSC and EAEC treaties for

the following reasons:

- only a few constitutional provisions need to be

transferred, while numerous legal and administrative

provisions can be transferred using separate

procedures;

- far more complex matters, such as the completion of the

internal market (since 1985) and German unification

have been dealt with in a much shorter time, thanks to

the necessary goodwill;

8. Notes that the objectives of the ECSC Treaty are provisions

of a constitutional nature;

9. Insists on the inclusion of a safeguard clause to ensure

that established social benefits and social policy

provisions under the ECSC Treaty will continue to apply

after they have been incorporated into the new treaty and

trusts that it will still be possible in future to make use

of the social policy instruments of the present ECSC

Treaty;

10. Proposes that the draft set out in the opinion of the

Committee on Energy, Research and Technology should be taken

as the basis for future work;

11. Instructs its President to forward this resolution and the

report on which it is based to the Council, Commission and

the Governments and Parliaments of the Member States.