Periode van bezinning: Deens publiek wenst simpeler procedures in de EU (en)

EUOBSERVER / ODENSE - Complex working processes in the EU were singled out as a major problem by 400 Danish citizens discussing the future of the EU at a hearing over the weekend.

The hearing was part of the Danish Parliament's reflections on the future of the EU following French and Dutch voters' rejection of the EU constitution in referendums last summer.

The participants were selected as a representative sample of the Danish people and included a canteen lady saying she did see the use of the EU, a farmer having trouble filling out EU formulas, an unemployed blacksmith, students, housewives, salesmen and teachers.

Major concerns and questions were raised in group discussions and then directed to experts and politicians in plenary sessions, broadcast on television.

European Commission president Jose Barroso i was answering questions from the audience live from Brussels.

Among the questions asked of the commission chief were why EU procedures are so complicated, what decisions could be moved back from the EU level to member states and how to achieve better accounting of EU money.

The highest ranking Danish EU diplomat ever, former secretary general of the council, Niels Ersboll, pushed for more transparency and supported general public access to all meetings, unless it was decided the meeting should be closed for specific reasons.

He also advocated closer contact between the commission and national parliaments.

"The commission should present and discuss its annual legislation programme directly with national parliaments, and commissioners should also present important pieces of legislation directly to MPs", he said.

The participants were surveyed after the conference and the results will be published in a report to be presented by Danish prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen to his counterparts at their June summit, where the fate of the EU constitution is up for discussion.

The weekend discussion was paid for by the Danish parliament and discussions broadcast by TV2-Sputnik.