Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-12-05-Speech-4-036"
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"en.20021205.2.4-036"2
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"Mr President, in reply to Mr Seppänen's point, I do not know many civil services in the world which are appointed only after a hearing by the Parliament and have to acquire the confidence of the Parliament to take office or which are dismissible as a college by Parliament. That is one of the important features of the situation as it obtains at the moment.
As Mr Prodi has said, what we are looking for is a supranational democracy in Europe and that will be, in important ways, a democracy
not exactly like that of any pre-existing state or society. I welcome a lot of what he has said today about the way the Commission should take office and hold office. This is an attempt to retain the kind of balance between the three institutions which ought to characterise Europe and which does not at the moment in anything like the same way characterise many of our Member States, where the government has become the controller of the legislature of the parliament rather than the other way around. That is a good feature of his proposals.
Although Mr Hänsch has pointed very accurately to some difficulties and potential contradictions that will mean that these proposals have to be more fully thought through to deal with the question, what about the risks of deadlock in the system which you are suggesting?
Another point that picks up what Mr Poettering said and which nobody else has spoken of is that a European democracy must be a democracy at many levels. One of the great disappointments of the Convention so far has been the tiny attention it has given to those levels of democracy which exist within and below the level of the Member State. If we do not take account, adequately and properly, of substantial constitutional regions with legislative powers - the internal nations of the Member States - then this Union will not work as a successful democracy.
Mr Napoletano has prepared a report today to the Constitutional Affairs Committee of this Parliament. We have amended it in committee and we believe that we have strengthened it. He is not fully happy with all that we have reached there but I hope that the Commission and the Convention are going to listen to this because if they do not also attend to this vital level of democracy in Europe all will fail."@en1
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