Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-05-17-Speech-4-059"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20010517.3.4-059"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Madam President, the proposal for a regulation on the statute and financing of European political parties is both inappropriate for all the reasons I shall set out in my explanation of vote, and is also lacking a legal basis.
It is actually based on Article 308 (former Article 235) of the Treaty establishing the European Community, but that cannot be used unless there is a Community power in existence first and no such power to act has been provided for. The Court of Justice clearly established this, in its opinion of 28 March 1996 on the possibility of the Community becoming a signatory to the European Convention of Human Rights using Article 308 as the basis. It declared that the use of Article 308 in such a case was impossible, because no prior general Community power existed to define and modify fundamental rights. Consequently, in Paragraph 30 of its opinion – which I shall quote in full – the Court concludes that ‘That provision (Article 308), being an integral part of an institutional system based on the principle of conferred powers, cannot serve as a basis for widening the scope of Community powers beyond the general framework created by the provisions of the Treaty as a whole and, in particular, by those that define the tasks and the activities of the Community. On any view, Article 235 cannot be used as a basis for the adoption of provisions whose effect would, in substance, be to amend the Treaty without following the procedure which it provides for that purpose.’
Today we find ourselves in precisely that scenario with the European political parties. Article 191 of the Treaty mentions them, but that only has declaratory value, because it does not entrust any mission to the Community as regards those political parties. Therefore that article can in no case serve as a point of departure for using Article 308, that is clear.
Lastly, I would add in conclusion that the reform planned in the Treaty of Nice, which seeks to create the absent legal basis, has not yet been ratified, and I hope it never will be, because it runs counter to the French constitution and the general principles of a free society, by which political parties must be free."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples