Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-02-06-Speech-3-175"
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"en.20020206.8.3-175"2
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".
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the report we have just discussed indicates that cooperation between the national parliaments and the European Parliament has reached a new level. I would even go as far to say that a new frame of mind has taken hold. Mr Napolitano, I would like to thank you and congratulate you on behalf of the Commission.
However, ladies and gentlemen, although no one is questioning the importance or the nature of the contribution of the national parliaments, there is – at least, not yet – no consensus on the form that this could take. The recent report by Mr Chevalier and Mr Mahou, which was presented to the Laeken European Council, states this quite clearly. We now know that we may have two options: either indirectly, by improving the prerogatives of each national parliament in each of the Member States, or directly, by introducing new procedures to enable the national parliaments to intervene more directly in the European decision-making process.
It is clear that we must underline and strengthen the national and indirect option and it is also obvious that this is the majority’s preferred option. The Commission does not have to judge the value of each institutional system. On the other hand, it can state its interest in favour of disseminating all the good practices – and we are well aware that some practices in some Member States are better than in others – in terms of information and consultation. The Commission can state whether it is willing to examine amending the protocol to the Treaty of Amsterdam, in order to take into account these good practices.
The European option is more direct and certainly the more difficult to take, because, at the moment, the national parliaments themselves do not agree on specific issues. However, ladies and gentlemen, we will have to consider the more direct European option when we discuss, for example, the clarification of legislative tasks of the Council, or when we assess the experiments which have already been carried out collectively as part of the work with the European Parliament and the national parliaments.
For its part, and like the House, the Commission does not support the idea of a new chamber, which would, in reality, be a third chamber. The European decision-making process is already sufficiently complicated, not to mention, of course, the risks of institutional conflicts that might arise between the third chamber and this House, with which the Commission has, for many years, shared and defended a certain vision and ambition for the Community model.
To sum up, and as you put it so well, Mr Napolitano, the Convention, which has not yet begun, will deal, in particular, with this key question, which is the subject of your report. Some subjects may therefore be raised immediately and, although I do not imagine that we will issue a specific opinion on subjects as closely related to the institutional autonomy of each Member State, Mr Vitorino and myself, who will represent the Commission at the Convention, would like to say that we are ready and willing to provide our ideas and our support to this in-depth examination. This may well be what we will do, for example, as regards the role of the constituent power of the national parliaments or even their role in interpreting the subsidiarity principle.
Ladies and gentlemen, almost all of you have mentioned the Convention, which will take up a great deal of our attention as of 28 February. Be that as it may, I repeat, one of the key issues that will determine the success of the Convention, to bring it up to the highest possible level of ambition, will be our common ability to convince, to lead, to work openly with the national parliaments and from this perspective, Mr Napolitano, I believe that your report is not only courageous but that it will also be very useful.
The question of national parliaments, of the role that they must play, that they can be asked to play, in the future architecture of the Union, is related to the question of subsidiarity. It is also related to the question of shared legitimacy which goes hand in hand with shared sovereignty. In this respect, through the question of national parliaments and through the delimitation of competences on which your fellow Member, Mr Lamassoure, is working, it is essentially the problem of subsidiarity which is raised and this will be one of the key issues for the Convention to deal with via the constitutional process that will be launched in a few days’ time.
It is therefore from this very useful perspective, Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, that we now have the extremely high quality findings of the European Parliament, which are telling us why and how we must take better account of the national parliaments.
Why must we do this? Perhaps because the European Union has not taken proper account of this question, from both its national and regional angles, nor has it taken this question seriously enough in the past. I say this with the benefit of hindsight and with the benefit of my experience, given that I have been a member of a national parliament for some 22 years. I can testify, as several of you can too, I am sure, to feeling a sense of helplessness as a national politician, when faced with so many texts from Brussels, which are merely to be implemented rather than discussed. Due to this feeling of
the frustration of national politicians – a word that one of you used – is not only directed at the Commission, but also at the Council and the European Parliament.
Parliament’s desire, as you stressed, Mr Napolitano, to embark upon a new stage in its relations with the national parliaments, is demonstrated by what I would call significant and courageous action. This action has been apparent, for some time already, through the active role that the House plays within COSAC, in the many formal and informal contacts between MEPs and national politicians – I can testify to this during the preparation of the Treaty of Nice – and in increased administrative cooperation.
The Commission is naturally in favour of this new phase, because it is aware of the contribution that the national parliaments can make to the Union’s integration. The further we move forward with integration – and we hope that it does progress, in the sensitive areas of national sovereignty, and particularly the second and third pillars – the more pressing the question of the legitimacy of the whole system will be.
From an objective point of view, there is, for example, a shared interest in having better control of what happens under the third pillar, which is of so much interest to the citizens, and this control could be strengthened by the communitarisation that both the Commission and Parliament desire.
I therefore think that the approach of the Union institutions must respect two broad principles. First of all, it must not bring their legitimacies into conflict, as universal suffrage runs through European integration in several ways; in a direct way for this House and in an indirect way for the Council and the European Council. I think that this is one of our assets. Then, it must take into account the division of powers which is specific to each State, as well as the prerogatives and the requirements of each individual country’s national parliament.
You are reflecting on how to better involve the national parliaments. The imminent launch of the Convention, which most of you have mentioned, is in itself an initial response to the desires expressed by the national parliaments. As I said, the Convention is a result of the effort made by both Parliament and the Commission and the will expressed by the 23rd COSAC meeting in Versailles in October 2000."@en1
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