Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-01-28-Speech-3-041"
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"en.20040128.4.3-041"2
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"Mr President, at its meeting on 26 January 2004, the Council examined the draft decision on a Statute for Members of the European Parliament. The discussion was based on the text as voted by Parliament on 3 and 4 June 2003, and on its subsequent resolution voted on 17 December 2003. In light of the request of Parliament that the Council respond as a matter of urgency to its resolution of 17 December, the presidency ensured that the matter was ready for consideration by ministers at the first available opportunity – last week’s Council meeting.
Qualified majority support is, as Members will be aware, required for all Articles of the draft Statute with the exception of Article 12 which, in the consolidated text, deals with taxation, and that, of course, requires unanimity. The presidency's approach, therefore, was to ascertain if a qualified majority existed on all aspects of the proposal other than taxation and – if that was the case – to reconfirm that the Council unanimously approved the taxation elements, an integral part of the overall proposal.
In the interests of full transparency, I want to clarify that the basis on which the presidency invited Council to take a decision was that the proposed salary level for MEPs would be 50% of the salary of a Judge at the Court of Justice at the time of the relevant Parliament resolution – EUR 8 670 a month.
The presidency’s objective was to secure political agreement on the draft Statute. Our approach has been clear all along. In his speech to the Parliament on 14 January 2004, the Taoiseach underlined the importance the presidency attached to the Members' Statute, welcomed the Parliament’s vote in December 2003 and said that we would do all in our power as Presidency-in-Office to deliver a positive outcome. In presenting the matter to the Council this week, the presidency restated in some detail its approach and its assessment of the situation.
While it was evident that most members of the Council could support the package, believing that the Parliament had responded to the concerns of the Council, four members of the Council expressed their continued difficulties with the proposals and could not give their support. Following this indication of positions, the presidency was obliged to conclude that the requisite support for the draft Statute, in accordance with the terms of Article 190(5) of the Treaty, was not available. It was therefore not necessary to test whether unanimity could be confirmed on the taxation elements. The presidency undertook to report the outcome to Parliament. I am availing of the opportunity to do so today.
It is important to be clear on one point in particular: the presidency spared no effort to ensure that Council would take an informed decision. Intensive preparatory work was undertaken in advance of the discussions by ministers. Clarification on particular areas of concern to Member States was sought from the Parliament and was, in our view, forthcoming. In all of this, I would like to acknowledge the assistance and support the presidency received from this Parliament and in particular from you personally, President Cox.
Clearly I would have preferred to bring a different and more positive message to this House today. Unfortunately that is not possible. I feel it is important that, as presidency, I give you a clear and unambiguous statement of where matters stand.
I should like to thank you once again, Mr Cox, for all the support and effort you put into this very important venture."@en1
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