Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-05-15-Speech-3-162"
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"en.20020515.8.3-162"2
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"Mr President, Secretary-General of the Council, the Council is without doubt the institution most in need of reform. There is much that is no longer acceptable, be it the complicated structures and sub-structures which have got completely out of hand or the lack of coordination of Council work by the General Affairs Council. Blurred structures, overly complicated decision-making processes and, above all, a lack of transparency and openness are the reasons why much is beyond our citizens' comprehension, when they even know about it, that is. Ask anyone you like to tell you the difference between the European Council and the Council of Europe.
We know that European regulations cannot be passed unless the governments agree in the Council of Ministers, but still one of their favourite games is to tell the public that "Brussels" is to blame or to attack the Commission simply because it goes down well with the voters at home. Unfortunately, my government has gained a rather dubious reputation here recently, which is why we need really radical reforms, reforms which stop ministers from hiding from their responsibility for European decisions behind "Brussels".
So how should we proceed? We need clear regulations so that national parliaments can exert a democratic influence on, and democratic control of, what their governments do in Europe. Secondly, we need a Council that meets in public when it is legislating, with television cameras to relay debates and votes and allow the public to follow the decision-making process. And thirdly – and I agree with Mr Poettering here – we need to create a European Affairs Council which takes account of the progressive drive towards European integration, because European policy is no longer foreign policy in the traditional sense, it is actually European domestic policy."@en1
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