Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-06-17-Speech-2-474"
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"en.20080617.43.2-474"2
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".
Mr President, Madam Vice-President, I would like to begin by repeating what the Vice-President of the Commission said, namely that this really is a two-sided issue we are dealing with. On the one hand it is a highly technical matter – although I would add that it is our job to solve technical problems and carry out any related tasks, so we must understand these things. On the other, meanwhile, it provides a new opportunity for citizens, since the new procedure, the procedure involving scrutiny for the first time actually gives citizens the chance, through their freely and directly elected representatives, to scrutinise the implementing measures and normative measures of the European Commission.
You will have heard many stories, largely put about in eurosceptic circles, of how the European Commission and the European bureaucracy want to regulate a whole host of minutiae. We are all familiar with some of these – from the size of eggs or the colour of paprika, the horror stories abound. Of course we do not know how true any of these stories are, but in any case the myths surrounding the Brussels bureaucracy have proved persistent. One of the reasons why the myths have persisted is that until now the European Parliament did not have genuine and effective powers of scrutiny regarding the normative measures delegated to the Commission.
The present process, which will conclude with the two votes tomorrow, will enable Parliament at least partially to exercise this sort of scrutiny; from now on, these normative measures will be subject to political scrutiny. In terms of what is habitually referred to as the democratic deficit issue, I have to say that this is a significant step. It is also a significant step in terms of eliminating the democratic deficit without involving amendments to the Treaty. I have always done my best to achieve this, and so has Parliament; it was the agreement reached in 2006 between the European Commission and Parliament that served as the basis for the changes under discussion today. I have always supported the idea that we should not wait for the Lisbon Treaty to extend these powers to Parliament. There is no need to wait, since the agreement between the two institutions and the proposals now before us largely resolve these problems. Moreover, I doubt that anyone can say for sure today when the Lisbon Treaty will actually come into effect.
Parliament needs these powers. A word of warning, however: this is a huge task, and one that the Council has been carrying out for a great many years via the comitology committees. For Parliament it is a completely new function, and a great deal of work will be involved in ensuring that we are genuinely able to exercise the new powers assigned to us. Moreover, it is not just a case of being able to exercise these powers as the European Parliament; from now on it will actually be an obligation, since the citizens of Europe can call us to account as their elected representatives over the manner in which we deal with these matters. I would like to thank the Commission sincerely for putting forward these proposals, and I would like to draw attention to the fact that only twelve of the thirty, or rather forty-six or so acts included in ‘List 3’ have so far been submitted, and we would ask you to submit the remaining thirty-four acts as soon as possible so that we can deal with them. Negotiations with the Council on the first and third omnibus packages have been concluded successfully.
I have every confidence that the Council will continue this process – indeed the Council has given its commitment to do so – and if possible resolve matters and conclude the process by the end of this year. In order for this to happen, all of the institutions must of course continue cooperating with one another. Another reason why this is important is because in this case both the Commission and the Council are relinquishing important constitutional powers to Parliament. I could therefore also say how commendable this is, and how grateful we are to have been granted these powers. However, I sincerely believe that they have taken this step in the interests of democracy in the European Union, and in the interests of eliminating excessively bureaucratic procedures and ensuring a more efficient, more transparent and more democratic European Union. I thank the institutions for their cooperation, and I thank all of the committees for proceeding swiftly to enable Parliament to resolve this matter, at least with regard to the first and third omnibus proposals. Thank you for your attention."@en1
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