Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-02-15-Speech-2-165"
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the Commission is discussing this issue right now but it will be very surprising if its work is completed today. I am basically here to speak to you, as indicated by your agenda, on a new initiative which the Commission is proposing as just one of its responses to the major challenge of institutional reform. This reform must involve all the actors in European construction, with yourselves as MEPs at the forefront but also myself as a Commissioner, the Council ministers and national MPs. It must also involve the officials who work in our various institutions and who are committed to and motivated by this European construction.
This morning, in the lengthy debate which I attended with Mr Prodi, many of you mentioned the lack of democracy and remoteness of the European institutions. Yet it is not just a question of who does what, as one of you said very clearly and forcefully. Ensuring that our citizens understand who does what in our various institutions is the very least we can do. We must also now explain what we are doing together and what we want to do together in the future, particularly with the countries which will be joining us.
We too are concerned about this lack of democracy, and the Commission has therefore decided to launch the ‘Dialogue on Europe’ in order to play its part in this direct contact with the people. This initiative will be launched on the day after the opening of the Intergovernmental Conference. During the IGC I will have the honour of representing the Commission together with Mr Prodi and of working closely with your two representatives, Mr Brok and Mr Tsatsos. All the Commissioners have undertaken to use some of their time when they go to any country or region, and not just their own, which in my case happens three or four times a month, to engage in direct dialogue with the public, and not just with the élite or those in power whom we meet as a matter of course. We also plan to establish direct contacts in universities, schools and factories, to meet the people, answer their questions and listen to them. In this way we will play our part, as will you, in making the necessary effort and meeting the urgent obligation to reduce the democratic deficit and the remoteness of our citizens from what we do.
We hope to conduct this initiative in cooperation with the Member States and in conjunction with the European Parliament. We will produce a regular summary of this initiative so that public opinion can be measured and we can adjust or reorient the work. We also hope to conduct this initiative in consultation with the national parliaments, local elected representatives, non-governmental organisations, socio-professional organisations and the media. Opinion multipliers, political groups and parties, MEPs and national MPs, elected representatives, as I have just said, local authorities or national parliaments, the Committee of the Regions, the Economic and Social Committee, organisations stemming from civil society and university and education circles will all be involved.
Need I remind you that the European Parliament itself took the initiative on 1 February? I must again thank Mr Napolitano for organising an initial working meeting with the representatives of the national parliaments who are, of course, the representatives of the people in each Member State. The Commission will propose that the Member States become involved in this exercise either as part of ad hoc cooperation or a more structured partnership. We are setting up a media plan and close contacts with the European Union Presidency and the European Parliament. I have indicated the conditions under which the Commissioners will play their part through public meetings and visits. We want to encourage debate among the people.
Without presuming to lecture you – God forbid – or even advise you, may I just point out that, when it was my honour to be Minister for European Affairs in my own country, I saw the need to establish a direct dialogue with the people? Each week, when engaging in this dialogue in each region, I realised that there was a real need for the European Union to have a face. I therefore took a European Commissioner, and not just the French ones, or ambassadors posted in Paris or MEPs to engage in this dialogue each week. This made me realise that people had many intelligent questions and that they needed to be respected, listened to and informed. So this is what we are going to do. We will have a budget of approximately EUR 4 million for 2000 which you will hopefully approve. Financing from the 2001 budget must also be negotiated as we want this initiative not just to be an experiment but to last throughout both 2000 and 2001. It will therefore be ongoing throughout the negotiation of the Intergovernmental Conference and the ratification process.
We will launch this dialogue on 8 March in Brussels in the presence of 700 young Commission stagiaires. Your President, Mrs Fontaine, has agreed to take part with Mr Prodi and several Commissioners in this initial dialogue. I can assure you that, whenever a Commissioner intends to engage in dialogue, the most immediately available MEPs will also be able to take part in order to give their point of view and explain the work and role of the European Parliament.
That is all I have to say for the moment. I welcome any questions, suggestions or proposals from the Members present."@en1
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