Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-04-13-Speech-4-121"
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"en.20000413.3.4-121"2
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"The Danish Social Democrats in the European Parliament today voted against the report by Mr Dimitrakopoulos and Mr Leinen on the European Parliament’s proposal for the IGC. We consider that in insisting on a broad agenda, the European Parliament is not facilitating what should be the main task of the IGC, namely that of resolving the outstanding institutional problems regarding the composition and voting rules of the Council, the Commission, the European Parliament, the Court of Justice and the other institutions, and so making enlargement possible. The European Parliament ought instead to take up the important task of ensuring that the essential issues which need to be resolved are debated in such a way that Europe’s citizens are involved and can form their own views on the important subjects being debated. The EU should build on a common political will to achieve the overriding objectives relating to peace, the environment and prosperity in Europe, focusing on the interests of its citizens. The debate in the Committee on Constitutional Affairs, which adopted the draft report with a very small majority, plus the fact that more than 200 amendments have been tabled for consideration in plenary, show that this report cannot contribute to creating a common basis for the IGC. Despite the fact that we do not consider that the European Parliament should propose all these amendments to the Treaty, we have elected to adopt positions on the individual points, as will be evident from our voting. However, we would like to draw particular attention to the points which we think the IGC should concentrate on.
As regards the composition of the European Parliament, we have voted for calculation of the number of Members from each Member State according to a sliding scale so that the European Parliament’s composition reflects the size of the individual States, populations as well as the fact that there are benefits to be had from making the European Parliament more representative by enabling the different political viewpoints in the individual countries to be represented there. As regards the composition of the Commission, it is important that all States have the right to a Commissioner with the same rights and obligations, particularly as in our opinion, the Commission must continue to enjoy the right of initiative. When it comes to the voting rules in the Council, we consider that a balance must be maintained between the interests of the small and large states. This can be achieved by laying down requirements for a certain number of votes in the Council which must, at the same time, represent a simple majority of the total population of the Union.
We are open to discussing increased use of qualified majority voting, although we do not consider that it should be the rule. Each particular instance of a transition to qualified majority voting must, however, be analysed and debated thoroughly and a balance struck between what is fundamental as far as the individual Member States are concerned and the need to make cooperation work. It is especially important that this matter be discussed on an on-going basis with Europe’s citizens. All Member States must demonstrate the political will to make cooperation work. It is this will and the desire for common solutions which the EU must also build on in future. We are not, therefore, worried that, following enlargement, the EU will be paralysed unless a thorough reform of the Treaty is carried out now. In parallel with the IGC, the Member States are discussing a common European security and defence policy. These discussions are far from complete, and we do not think that the European Parliament should table amendments to the Treaty before the outcome is known. We continue to believe that the EU should not be an actual defence alliance. In this area, the EU must focus in particular on conflict prevention and civil crisis management. Also in parallel with the IGC, the creation of a Charter of Fundamental Rights is being debated. We would like once again to stress that we want a charter in the form of a political document and that it should not be raised at the IGC with a view to incorporating it into the Treaty."@en1
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