EP - Greek Presidency and Thessaloniki Summit

Council & Commission statements on preparation of the Thessaloniki European Council of 20/21 June 2003 and the EU-Western Balkans Summit

Debate : 04.06.2003


Tassos GIANNITSIS, Greece's Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, opened the debate on the forthcoming Thessaloniki European Council to be held on 20 and 21 June. He stated that the main areas for discussion by the Heads of State and Government would be the reform of the EU institutions, the EU's Common and Foreign Security Policy and relations with NATO, the spread of weapons of mass destruction, immigration issues, updating the EU's employment strategy and on Saturday attention would turn to the Balkans region.

On institutional reform, the Minister underlined that it would be not be possible to conclude this long running theme under the Greek Presidency. He also stated that no formal decisions would be taken on the draft Constitutional Treaty to be formally presented at the Council. On the other hand, the timetable for the next Intergovernmental Conference would be set out, probably starting in Autumn after a period of debate and reflection in the Member States on the draft Constitutional Treaty. The Minister recognized the importance of increasing the effectiveness of the European institutions and welcomed the proposed changes relating to strengthening the role of the European Parliament, giving the Union legal personality, introducing the Charter of Fundamental Rights into the Treaty and extending co-decision to justice and home affairs.

With regard to relations with the US, he said the dynamics and the institutions that had bound the two continents together were still in place. "There is more that unites us than divides us" he stated. He stated that, in particular, Europe and the US would have to fight the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. On justice and home affairs, the Minister stated that this had been a priority for the Greek Presidency and agreements had been reached on repatriation to third countries as well as on long-term residency rights. The European Council, he underlined, would also be taking decisions on updating the European Employment Strategy and on reform of the CAP.

On the Western Balkans, the Minister stated that the strategy for the EU would be to prepare these countries for accession by consolidating democracy and strengthening institutions. He also said that Romania and Bulgaria were on course to join the Union in 2007. In conclusion, the Minister underlined the importance of bringing the Union closer to the citizen and welcomed the progress on the funding of European-wide political parties. He also hoped that there would be a conclusion to the statute for Members of the European Parliament.

Foreign Minister should be a Commissioner, says President Prodi

Outlining his views on the current state of play in the draft Constitutional Treaty, Commission President Romano PRODI, after endorsing the idea of an EU Foreign Minister, expanded on the role he considered such a person to play. The Foreign Minister, he felt, should not only represent the EU and the Common Foreign and Security Policy, with the Commission taking on other EU responsibilities in other external areas but should also be a Commissioner working closely with other Commissioners and enjoying the full backing of a European diplomatic service. This structure should be linked into the Commission's administration in order for the post to work successfully. This, he felt, was a practical example of combining the intergovernmental and Community dimension to future EU decision making and, he added, a similar operation could work in the economic field with the Commissioner responsible for economic and monetary affairs chairing the euro group meeting of finance ministers and representing the euro on the international stage.

The Commission President underlined his support for the Constitution and a Convention with a balanced text - not options - laying down the foundations for Europe for many years to come and to guarantee the EU's independence and ability to be effective on the international stage. But he warned of the dangers of failure if key decisions were ducked and there was a re-run of the experience of Nice. He recalled the three main goals of the Convention for a better definition of EU competencies, simplification of legislation and more democracy, transparency and efficiency. In order to bring this about, he emphasized the need for the extension of co-decision in the legislative area, adding that he felt that the current proposals were insufficient. He supported an extension of the powers of the Court of Justice to cover foreign policy and justice and home affairs. The Commission should be the EU's single executive subject to the control of the European Parliament and the Council. It should apply legislation, implement policies and generally represent the EU externally, except for the Common Security and Defence Policy.

While he welcomed the inclusion of the Charter of Fundamental Rights being enshrined in the Constitution, he urged the need to move towards more majority voting on the basis of the "double simple-majority" representing half the Member States and at least 50% of the EU's population. As to the idea of having a President of Council, he felt such a post would weaken current institutional arrangements since the holder would not be responsible to the European Parliament and would only risk confusion on its role with the Commission. Other options he said were maintaining the rotating presidency or creating a post of chairman of Council with responsibility for technical matters and improving the running of the institutions in a wider Europe. Concluding the Commission President put his faith in the future in "the enthusiasm and intelligence of policy makers who put their national cultural heritage at the service of Europe's common interests".

It was then the turn of EPP/ED leader Hans-Gert POETTERING (D) to welcome the Commission President's contribution and, turning towards the Convention, he raised the possibility of it containing a clause recognizing Europe's Christian culture. Otherwise he put on record his support for a strong Commission with the President elected by MEPs. The Commission, he said, should reflect the views of all countries in the EU and there were ways of doing this without adopting a single Commissioner for each Member State such as a system of rotation. He too felt the EU's Foreign Minister should have a close link with the Commission and report to the European Parliament. Furthermore, in the interests of transparency, there should be more majority voting in Council.

Turning to the Council Presidency, he looked to support from the Greek Presidency for agreeing a Statute for MEPs as well as a Statute on European political parties. Otherwise, he emphasized the importance of the EU's foreign policy and indeed the need not to forget the South as the EU expands to the East. He looked forward to a positive result in the forthcoming referendum in Poland.

For the Socialists Enrique BARÓN CRESPO (E) recognized that the Greek Presidency had faced difficult times over the last six months. He said there should be support for the draft Constitutional Treaty and not just simply a list of alternatives put forward by individual Member States. Mr. Baron also stated that it would be important at the Council in Thessaloniki, given the city's history, to underscore the secular nature of the Union. Mr. Baron stated that it would be important for the Council to achieve agreement on the funding of European political parties so as to strengthen European wide democracy. Mr. Baron also wanted President Prodi to explain the results of the recent G8 Summit in Evian in more detail. On the Middle East, he welcomed the recent progress and called on the US to fully involve the Europeans in resolving the conflict.

Graham WATSON (South West) for the ELDR, welcomed the fact that the Presidium of the Convention was beginning to listen to some of the concerns of the Member States. In particular, he said his group was opposed to the idea of a permanent President of the Council as this would give too much leverage to the larger Member States. Instead, his group favored merging the posts of Commission and Council President so as to avoid duplication. He welcomed the reduction in the number of legislative areas where Member States held a veto. Lastly, he trusted that the Council would be discussing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and in particular relations with Iran and North Korea.

Francis WURTZ (EUL/NGL, F), on the other hand, took a more philosophical approach and stated that the fundamental question was what Europe could achieve together. For his group, he said the Union should focus on sustainable economic growth, preserving public services, introducing taxation of capital movements and human rights abuses in Guantánamo Bay and in the Middle East.

Monica FRASSONI (Greens/EFA, B) emphasized the need for the Convention to move forward on the basis of an "open method" and not intergovernmentalism. She was looking for progress in introducing more democracy and clarity to EU decision making which, she felt, would not be assisted by the retention of the veto in areas such as taxation.

Fur the UEN Gerard COLLINS (Munster) felt the challenges were to make the EU more effective and indeed play a key role on the global field. There should also be more clarity in institutional decision-making but, he felt, both governments and citizens should be given time to reflect on the conclusions coming from the Convention. It was, he said, vital to preserve a balance between large and small Member States and ensure, for example, equal representation in the Commission. He recognized, however, that a rotating Council Presidency was not necessarily the most effective way of running a Union of 25 Member States and, on the issue of taxation, he felt this was best left to national governments.

Jens-Peter BONDE (EDD, DK) took the view that the proposals coming from the Convention only increased the gap between the Union and the citizen and he saw the approach of Valéry GISCARD D'ESTAING as a step backwards in the sense of what he felt was his failure to take on board the views of the representatives in the Convention. He saw the large countries gaining at the expense of the smaller Member States and, while he recognized that more co-decision-making would be going to the European Parliament, he said this did not make up for the loss of powers by national parliaments and gains by the bureaucracy i.e. the Commission.

The leader of the British Conservatives in the European Parliament, Jonathan EVANS (Wales) welcomed the progress made under the Greek Presidency in pushing forward the enlargement negotiations and he looked forward to the accession of 10 new Member States. He did, however, express his disappointment of what, he felt, was a failure to pursue the Lisbon process, with many European economies facing stagnation. He also took issue with the attempts to develop an alternative defence policy to NATO from 4 Member States earlier in the year. As to the Convention he saw the discussions leading to more centralization and less democracy with fundamental changes to the second and third pillars i.e. foreign policy and home affairs. Furthermore, with the inclusion of the Charter and the proposal for a public prosecutor, this was far more than a "tidying up exercise". These changes he felt fully merited a referendum in the United Kingdom as he felt a EU based on nation states was now under threat. In addition, the new Member States should be involved in the discussions and indeed given a vote.

Baroness Sarah LUDFORD (ELDR, London) focused on migration issues and the Balkans. She congratulated the Commission for rejecting an idea from the UK that asylum and immigration centers should be set-up outside the EU. On the other hand, Baroness Ludford said she was in favor of introducing "legal routes for migration" and warned that the EU's population was likely to significantly decrease and the US' population significantly increase. Baroness Ludford said that what was needed was a true sharing of responsibility among the Member States for asylum and immigration, faster application procedures and access to legal migration routes. The Baroness was also concerned about bi-lateral agreements signed by Romania and Albania with the US over immunity and the International Criminal Court.

The Earl of STOCKTON (EPP-ED, South West) stated that he did not agree with the assessment of the Greek Presidency on the Convention. He stated that despite claims that the Convention had been held in the open, the Presidium meetings had been held in secret and crucial decisions taken behind closed doors. He regretted the fact that there was no opportunity to discuss re-writing the Nice Treaty, or to review current legislation. Lord Stockton stated that progress had been made in the direction of the position of the Member States' governments. He also warned that the Convention may have betrayed the European institutions, and the European peoples.

Replying to the debate, Minister Giannitsis underlined that it would be important for the European Council to send a clear political signal to the Western Balkans that the EU supported reform and their path to accession to the EU. The Minister also stressed the importance of making progress on asylum and immigration issues, especially since many citizens were concerned about the increase in applications. Finally, the Minister hoped that the Convention would be a way of increasing the general public's trust in the EU.

In his reply to the debate, Commission President Romano Prodi pointed out that discussions surrounding the Convention had in fact resulted in a parallel negotiating process with the danger of fragmentation. Noting that in recent months the EU Member States had been divided and indeed "humiliated" in the area of developing a Common Foreign Policy, he appealed for unity and support for the Convention in producing a specific draft enabling all EU citizens to feel part of the process and the EU able to play its role fully on the world stage.

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