The proposed Constitution leaves untouched the exclusive power of the Commission
Parliament initiative: Utopia or reality?
Tuesday 27 February 2007
Tackling the monopoly of the Commission to propose EU laws has been an issue for some MEPs for more than a decade but any proposal to change the status of the Commission provokes reactions that usually range between indignation and contempt. It is not that the EU leaders are opposed to any change, the reason behind these reactions is more likely to be found in the will to preserve the symbols of the European construction, among which the Commission certainly holds the first position. The shape of the European institutions was decided in a time where efficient action and proactive move towards integration were needed.
However, the situation is different today; the EU has just performed its 6th enlargement and now writes more than 3000 laws per year, influencing the lives of 450 million people from the Atlantic coast to the Black sea. The EU now needs to take time for reflection and engage the reforms that are necessary in a state of law.
Germany’s vice-chancellor Franz Muntefering has recently proposed to extend the power of initiative to the parliament, a reform that hasn’t been foreseen in the Constitutional treaty. Indeed, the draft Constitution leaves most of the Commission’s monopoly of initiative intact. The only innovation in this field concerns the introduction of a “citizen initiative” following which 1 million citizens can ask the Commission to legislate in a certain area.
In an interview with the Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Muntefering said "We should be asking ourselves the question who decides what is on the agenda in Europe. Only the [European] Commission? Something should change in this respect. More possibilities for political initiatives by the European Parliament would be good,"
Mr. Muntefering added that European elections should have bigger influence on who should become president of the EU Commission. "Imagine that there were national elections in Germany, and this would not be about the eventual appointment of the chancellor. What would this mean for the turnout?" Muntefering said.
If Mr. Muntefering’s declaration are likely to bring some assurance to the few democratic utopists working in the Parliament halls, the majority of our leaders are not ready to engage themselves on this slippery field. Among the timorous stands German chancellor Angela Merkel, who remains a strong supporter of the present draft of the Constitution. Having an EU bypassing its citizen’s interests doesn’t seem to prevent her from sleeping.
But this can change.
It is time the European leaders started to understand that there is no future for the EU but a democratic one.
Source: EUobserver