Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-04-13-Speech-4-130"
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"en.20000413.3.4-130"2
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"The Intergovernmental Conference is an historic opportunity for Member States to transform the EU into a democratic, open and efficient organisation, which is why we regret that the governments of the Member States do not have the political will to carry out an in-depth reform of the Union. We therefore welcome the fact that Parliament wishes to accept the challenge to reform the Union along these lines, but we wish to clarify our position as follows.
A Union of 25 to 30 Member States cannot operate in the same way as a Union of 15 Member States. Instead, we need both an overview of the institutions’ working methods and a clearer distribution of labour between the Member States and the EU. The EU can only function efficiently and democratically if it deals exclusively with cross-border issues and leaves other issues to be resolved mainly at national level.
The difficulty for the Intergovernmental Conference is to find a delicate balance between the desire to create an efficient and democratic Union and the need, at the same time, to reflect the historic balance of power between small and large Member States. In other words, it must be borne in mind that the EU is a Union of both peoples and States. On this basis, we think it is important for the present Intergovernmental Conference to establish the size of the Commission at one Commissioner per Member State. With regard to the distribution of power in the Council, the Commission has proposed a system of ‘double simple majority’ voting on certain questions. This means that a majority is required from the Member States, but also that these States should represent a majority of the citizens if a decision is to be implemented. This is important from a democratic perspective in view of the fact that, in this way, the voting clearly reflects the will of the people. The Group of the European Liberal, Democrat and Reform Party supports the Commission’s proposal but would emphasise that small countries should not be placed at a disadvantage. Parliament ought to have 700 seats, distributed among the population on the basis of a degressive proportional scale. We are well disposed towards trying out a new system involving European lists, which means that elections for a limited number of the 700 seats could take place within the context of a single constituency. We are aware of the fact that European parties at present have little support among our citizens, but we believe that a supplementary system involving European lists would, in time, lead to an increased European identity.
An EU of approximately 25-30 Member States will lead to more countries wanting to exploit the opportunity that exists for a number of them to go further than others in certain areas of policy (so-called closer cooperation). We do not think it is appropriate to see this as a permanent solution to the problem which will arise when the EU is enlarged. The risk entailed in a Europe ‘à la carte’ is that the whole integrity and basic idea of EU cooperation will be lost. The solidarity between cooperating States would be in danger of becoming fragmented, something which might have very undesirable consequences for the Union as such. Flexibility of this kind ought to be seen, rather, as a temporary alternative for countries which are not yet ready, or sufficiently well prepared, to enter into deeper cooperation. The wording in the Treaty of Amsterdam about closer cooperation is therefore an adequate and acceptable solution. Too many parallel concentric circles create a system which is difficult to supervise. The Union’s common objectives should be promoted within the context of such cooperation, and no Member State should be excluded from participating.
We welcome the EU’s increased opportunities to pursue a credible foreign and security policy so that the EU can assume increased responsibility when it comes to solving conflicts in the vicinity of the EU. At the same time, we would emphasise that this development ought not to lead to our having two parallel and competing organisations for resolving conflicts. It is therefore important to emphasise that the development concerned must take place in the context of close cooperation between NATO and the EU and that representatives of these organisations must sit down together as soon as possible and agree upon a satisfactory distribution of labour."@en1
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