Commissie Europees Parlement spreekt uit wat zij wil met grondwet (en)

Parliament will reject any agreement on a new treaty which does not improve democracy, transparency and citizens' rights, according to the Constitutional Affairs Committee, which approved on Tuesday a report on the EU's constitutional process. It calls on the June European Council to define a roadmap to reach a new agreement on institutional reforms.

By backing by large majority the report by Enrique Baron Crespo (PES, ES) and Elmar Brok (EPP-ED, DE), MEPs in committee call on the June European Council to convene soon an Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) to reach a settlement on institutional reforms - and they ask for Parliament to be fully involved in its work. According to the adopted text, the EP "will reject any outcome of the negotiations which, if compared to the Constitutional Treaty, would lead to a diminution of the protection of the rights of citizens (...) as well as to less democracy, transparency and efficiency in the functioning of the Union". In order to help reach a positive outcome, Parliament will maintain close contacts with national parliaments, as well as with the Committee of Regions and the Economic and Social Committee, throughout the whole IGC.

The committee called for the preservation of the basic principles of Part I of the Constitutional Treaty in the future agreement on the institutional reforms. The Charter of Fundamental Rights, whose inclusion in the new treaty is still being debated by governments, is one of the reforms the committee deems indispensable. In addition, the report lists the recognition of the Union's values, the clarification of respective competences at national and EU level, the respect of subsidiarity and an increased involvement of citizens in the EU's political life among the crucial achievements of the draft Constitution to be upheld.

MEPs in committee said the outcome of the IGC must take into account all questions raised during the period of reflection on the future of Europe. Particularly, they ask Member States to agree a common approach in the fields of climate change, energy security, migration policy, the fight against terrorism, enlargement, the European social model and the economic governance of the euro-zone.

To facilitate the approval of the new agreement on the institutional reforms, MEPs also propose to Member States to coordinate their ratification procedures to approve the new text simultaneously by the end of 2008. 

The report debated and put to the vote at the 5-6 June plenary session in Brussels so it can become Parliament's contribution to the European Council.