20. January 2004

In talks today with the Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Council President Cowen, on the future of the Intergovernmental Conference, the European Parliament's delegate to the IGC, Elmar Brok MEP, said the timetable for negotiations over the future European Constitution is of crucial importance. The discussion took place in the Constitutional Committee of the Parliament. "I think we agreed upon, in the Convention draft as well as in the collective awareness of the Intergovernmental Conference, to come to a conclusion in December 2003." Brok agreed the process has to be handled with sensitivity in certain countries, but appealed to the Council Presidency to establish a proposal during bilateral meetings and at the informal IGC meeting next week and to table it at the March summit, in order for the Constitution to be settled before May and the European elections in June.

Regarding the contents Brok said any new proposal for voting procedures in the Council will be better than the outcome of Nice. The capacity of the European Union to act must not be put into question. "We cannot allow a Nice in new clothes", Brok said.

The CDU politician explicitly warned of the consequences if the Intergovernmental Conference fails. If so, the risk remains that relatively soon a defence union consisting of various Member States will develop outside the legal framework of the European Union. "The European Union will then become an administrator of the internal market and the political dimension will be found outside the EU."

Full press release is available on-line:

http://www.epp-ed.org/Press/showpr.asp?PRControlDocTypeID=1&PRControlID=2464&PRContentID=4748&PRContentLG=en