Strassbourg, 4 September 2003

Message to the IGC: Do not go back on Convention Consensus – Eliminate the veto right for future reforms

Monica Frassoni MEP, Co-President of the Green/EFA group, entreated European leaders not to retreat from the consensus reached by the Convention on the Future of Europe during the Strasbourg plenary session today. She added that the way to improve on the issues that the Convention was not able to solve was to remove the veto right on future reforms and to give the European Parliament ratification powers.

"The text adopted by the European Convention undoubtedly represents a step forward in the democratisation and integration of Europe. Many of the Green/EFA group's demands have been met, like the inclusion of the Charter of Fundamental rights, the improvement of legislative procedures, the introduction of a legislative initiative right for European citizens, the strengthening of the role of the European Parliament and the abolishment of the veto right in the fields of liberty, justice and agriculture."

"We welcome that issues like full employment, fair trade, pluralism, the protection of human rights, conflict prevention and the sustainable development of the earth are among the objectives that will define the priorities of the enlarged Union. Still, the Convention did not succeed in adapting the instruments and policies to its most innovative objectives, it has retained the requirement for unanimity and has still enhanced the supremacy of Council in many key sectors of EU competencies. The constitutional process is therefore far from over."

"To be able to fill these gaps, we have two urgent battles ahead of us: Firstly, during the Intergovernmental Conference we must ensure that the positive results of the Convention are not diminished by the efforts of the governments who did not want the Convention in the first place, and who today want to undermine its achievements. This outcome would be unacceptable and, I dare say, illegitimate. Beyond what the Treaties say, it is clear that the Convention's most important innovation has been to wrest the monopoly of the Union's reform from the governments. We cannot let them take it back now."

"Secondly, it is essential to remove the requirement that revision of the Constitution must be undertaken with unanimity. The right of ratification must also be transferred to the European Parliament. If the IGC fails on this point, it is not difficult to predict what kind of future Europeans will have: the EU will be unable to evolve, to act and will become evermore irrelevant and
divided."

Contact:
Press Service of the Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament.