THE 1996 INTERGOVERNMENTAL CONFERENCE

Report of the PES Working Party on the 1996 Intergovenmental Conference

This text is a discussion document based on the work of a PES working party, chaired by Gerard FUCHS (PSF), and presented to the PES Party Leaders Conference in Valbonne on June 24 and 25, 1995. The paper is a contribution to the discussion and does not bind the PES nor any of its 21 member parties. (Jan Marinus WIERSMA rapporteur JUNE 1995)

INTRODUCTION

This paper is a first report of the PES Working Party on the 1996 Intergovernmental Conference (IGC), chaired by Gerard FUCHS. It reflects several rounds of discussion between personal representatives of the PES party leaders. This discussion is continuing and it should be emphasised that the views of the PES and do not bind the PES member parties.

Over the last months substantial work has been done by the Group of the PES in the European Parliament.The paper of Elisabeth GUIGOU, the "initial approach" adopted by the PES group (as formulated by the group leader Pauline GREEN) and the European Parliament report of David MARTIN contain very useful contributions. Close cooperation beween the PES and its parliamentary group is of vital importance,especially in a situation in which the timetables for the discussions within the PES member parties and the European Parliament differ considerably.

The debates and referenda on the Maastricht Treaty have shown public opinion in the member states critical of the Union and its institutions.It thus constitutes a major challenge to convince public opinion of the need for a new Intergovernmental Conference and the necessity of a further strenghthening of the European Union faced with a new round of enlargement.

The PES and its parliamentary Group in the European Parliament should consider setting up a campaign on the IGC and the proposals from the European socialists and social democrats. Both the rank and file of the PES member parties and the wider public could be identified as target groups.

BASIC APPROACH

In a fundamental discussion on the course of European integration it is important to return to the basic question: Why, as European states and citizens, do we want to co-operate and what do we want to achieve and do in common? The right wing, liberal concept of the European Union as just a free-market zone has to be countered.

The European Union is a valuable instrument to promote peace and security ;to fight unemployment; to organize economic integration; to defend and give shape to a model of society based on solidarity and ecological renewal; and to increase the European influence in global development (development cooperation, trade relations, monetary stability, environmental protection and human rights).

The IGC is not a mere technical operation to adjust certain elements of the Treaty of the European Union: basic problems and challenges facing Europe's citizens are on the agenda. To give effect to the common action needed in specific policy areas, institutional changes and treaty amendmends have to be determined and formulated.

Already in 1991 when the Treaty on European Union (TEU) was agreed, it was evident that further changes to the Treaty would be necessary: this was explicitly stipulated in the Treaty text. Since then, in the short period since the Maastricht agreements have been in force, it has become even more clear that effective EU policy making requires amendments to the Treaty:

The European Council has decided that the Union should prepare a new round of enlargement. The present Union of 15 member states works on the basis of a model designed for 6. Reforms to the decision making process are unavoidable in the context of further enlargement and are therefore urgent.
Employment, ecological renewal, social cohesion and solidarity are for European socialists and socialdemocrats, core elements of Union policy. The existence of a single market requires common rules setting high social and environmental standards.The EU should develop into a Social Union whereby the individual member states have a prime responsibility to implement social policy goals.
The third stage of Monetary Union is approaching. Monetary policy is an important instrument of economic management, but it is not the only means of shaping the economy A single currency presupposes a process of real convergence of economic, financial and budgetary policies within which the effects on employment should be a core theme.
The citizens of the European Union expect the Union to develop a coherent and strong foreign and security policy. For this new cooperation mechanisms between the EU institutions have to be prepared.

THE ISSUES

UNEMPLOYMENT

A substantial part of Europe's population is out of work. National governments are each in their own way taking measures to combat unemployment. But national initiatives are not sufficient in an open world economy that is marked by globalisation and rapid technological change. National governments within the EU often compete with each other for jobs. This endangers public finances and services and threatens the future of social security arrangements. Therefore a stronger common approach and more policy coordination of the EU is required.

The European Union should develop a framework for macro-economic policy as well as a real capacity for decision making. The large European market offers many opportunities, which can only be fully used when Member States work together. In this context we refer to the implementation of the "White Paper" of the European Commission, as developed by Jacques Delors.

An adaptation of the institutional framework is needed in order to facilitate combining labourmarket, social and training policies that will reconcile the measures necessary for Monetary Union with the objective of progress to a social economy. This policy effort must accompany the establishment of the future European Central Bank.

ECOLOGICAL RENEWAL

Employment, economic development and ecological renewal are for European socialists and social democrats, central policy objectives to be implemented in parellel.The EU can play an important role in the protection of the environment by integrating environmental criteria into its transport, energy and agriculture policies and by promoting a shift of taxation from human resources to the use of non-renewable and scarce resources.

All major EU decisions should be subject to environmental impact assessment. By formulating minimum environmental standards and by utilizing environmental taxes the EU should prevent poor environmental standards becoming the basis for short term economic profits.

COMMON FOREIGN AND SECURITY POLICY

In a world threathened by instability the European Union provides the best example of peaceful co-existence. The European Union could play a stronger role on the world stage promoting peace ,development, disarmament and non proliferation if its political and economic instruments would be further developed in this sense.

The European Union has however not yet developed a strong and coherent foreign policy based on any common analysis.The EU lacks the means, and its member states often lack the political will, to implement common objectives. A vast majority of EU citizens expect the Union to be more effective and develop a capacity to counter crises both within and outside Europe. The security relations with the countries of Central and Eastern Europe as well as Russia need to be redefined on the basis of a common approach

A European planning and analysis unit, linked to the Commission and the Council, would constitute a valuable basis. Only a common analysis and approach will make common policies and actions possible.
The Union should make a more active use of the possibilities for common actions offered by the present Treaty. It is of vital importance that the EU member states act together in the framework of United Nations operations.Within this coordination an equitable division of financial burdens could be considered.
The Commission should make use of its right to make proposals as given in the Maastricht Treaty
Finally the IGC should discuss what "the eventual framing of a common defence policy" (Treaty on European Union) implies. The IGC should address the following questions:
Will the Western European Union have to be integrated into the European Union?
Will the European Union have to develop a real capacity for peace keeping and peace enforcement operations?
Will the EU have to take a direct responsability for the defence of its territory?
Is NATO the most appropiate institution for the collective defence of Europe and should a European pillar within NATO be developed?
What would be the impact of any new defence structure on the Partnership for Peace agreements?
What could be the role of the OSCE in a European security policy?

ENLARGEMENT

Europe is wider than the EU. The European Council has in principle decided in favour of further enlargement of the EU to Central and Eastern Europe as well as into the mediterenean area. The Union will have to prepare its institutions for an EU membership of possibly more than 25 member states. In principle every European country that accepts the fundamental principles of the EU, that has the economic capability to join, has an open economy and a pluralistic democracy should be able join the Union. This would in the end provide more stability and prosperity for every European.

In order to make a success of enlargement the Union will have to reform itself. At the same time it will have to support the political and economic transition processes in countries elegible for membership.
In the IGC process, the Union will have to ensure that the door remains open to further accessions, and negotiations should start as soon as possible after the end of the IGC with those countries in a position to join.
Enlargement will put heavy strains on existing budgets and funds. A reform of the budget,the common agricultural policy and the structural funds is needed.Their objectives will have to be reformulated and their efficiency increased. The question can be asked whether also an extension of the resource base of the Union will be necessary.

A CITIZENS' EUROPE

Greater substance should be provided for the concept of EU citizenship through development of the special rights linked to EU citizenship. The Treaty should stipulate in a much clearer way what the rights of its citizens are by including a "Charter of Citizens Rights". The Union should incorporate the European Convention on Human Rights into its Treaties.

The Treaty should be amended in order to provide the European Commission with a specific competence to combat rascism and xenophobia.
European Socialists and Social Democrats are looking forward to a new Labour government ending the UK opt-out of the so called "social protocol".
The concept of equality between men and women in the Treaty should be extended beyond the subject of equal pay for equal work. The EU should play its role in achieving equal opportunities in the labour market; the combination of career with family life; equal treatment in social security systems; and equal opportunities to participate in political life.

JUSTICE AND HOME AFFAIRS

The European Union needs to become more effective in the area of justice and home affairs. The experiences with this "third pillar" of the EU show that the Treaty on European Union does not offer enough scope for action in areas mentioned in the Treaty. These concern matters that are very important to our citizens like migration, asylum policy as well as the fight against crime and terrorism.

It is of vital importance that parliamentary accountability is assured for the policy areas concerned as well as the involvement of the European Court of Justice.

INSTITUTIONAL CHANGE

TRANSPARENCY

Many citizens experience the Union and its institutions as a distant entity. Its whole functioning is difficult to explain: there is an enormous lack of effective communication that itself leads to unrealistic expectations. This endangers the credibility of the Union.

Europe needs to be more visible: Politics in Europe should be made more transparent; Decision making should be simplified,with fewer procedures; The adoption of legislation should take place in public; The Council and the European Parliament should limit their legislative work to the essentials and leave the technical implementation to the European Commission and national governments.
It should be made clear to citizens that the Union only deals with issues that cannot be efficiently handled at the national level or below. This is subsidiarity. The Union should concentrate on core tasks.
The Treaty structure should be made more simple. We want to reduce the number of decision making procedures: This raises the question as to whether the second pillar (foreign and security policy)and the third pillar (justice and home affairs) could be gradually integrated into the community pillar.
The Treaty structure should be made more simple. We want to reduce the number of decision making procedures: This raises the question as to whether the second pillar (foreign and security policy) and the third pillar (justice and home affairs) could be gradually integrated into the community pillar.
The adoption of the EU budget, including all EU revenue and expenditure, should be subject to a single procedure.
Finally, the increase in European cooperation should be matched by devolution and decentralisation below the national level in order to bring public administration as close to the citizens as possible.

DEMOCRACY

There is a widespread notion of the lack of democratic control within the European Union; of a grey area where neither the European Parliament nor national parliaments exert sufficient democratic control. This can only be solved by increasing the powers of the European Parliament and by a stronger involvement of the national parliaments at the level of the member states.

The EP should have the right of codecision whenever the Council adopts Community legislation by a qualified majority
The EP should have the right of scrutiny over the whole budget including compulsory expenditure.
The EP should have the right of initiative for Community legislation

National parliaments should discuss draft EU legislation at a much earlier stage with the respective ministers participating in Council meetings at a much earlier stage and should have the right of appeal to the European Court of Justice when they feel that the EU has gone beyond its competences

DECISION MAKING

The decision making process will have to be improved in order to make the Union more effective in important policy areas and in order to be able to enlarge : How can an EU of some 25 member states ensure efficient internal decision making processes and bring about common policies and actions?

It is not realistic to foresee a Union of 25 members being able to function effectively on the basis of unanimity. Majority decision making in the Council of Ministers should be considerably extended taking as a basic approach that in areas where the EU is supposed to implement common policies (first pillar), decisions should in principle be taken by qualified majority, whilst acknowledging that in a limited number of areas the principle of unanimity would have to remain.

A special formula could be introduced that involves qualified majority voting in certain areas of foreign and security policy whereby no Member State would be forced to participate in a common security action (derogation). In this area the right of initiative of the Commission should be improved and the European Parliament should be consulted.

Also in the future the EU decision making mechanism will have to be characterised by a disproportionate representation of smaller member states

The system of weighed votes in the Council needs to be examined.Three options among others are: the so-called "double majority" (a majority of states and a majority of EU population); a review of the weighing of votes; and bringing down the ceiling for a majority.

The crucial role of the European Commission must be reaffirmed and a stronger role must be given to the European Parliament in its appointment (e.g. election of the Commission president).

Furthermore in the context of a further enlargement the Commission needs to be reorganised. The following options could play a role: a stronger role for the President; one Commissioner per member state; or the introduction of junior and senior members of the Commission

The number of MEP's has to be limited, not increasing the present number. A uniform electoral procedure for the elections to the European Parliament must be implemented.

INTEGRATION AND DIFFERENTIATION

Proposals for a self-elected hard core of EU Member States taking the lead in European political integration must be rejected. This attitude undermines the trust and solidarity needed between Member States to make progress in the Intergovernmental Conference.

Whilst rejecting a two-tier Union, we recognize that the European Union is at present characterised by a certain degree of "differentiated integration". If the IGC fails to make con-siderable progress, a large group of member states might opt for "EMU or social protocol types of solution.

Core groups can be avoided if the ambition of all Member States concerning the IGC is comparible. Moreover flexibilty is needed when it comes to reaching commonly formulated targets.Some sort of differentiated integration might also occur in the light of the planned enlargement of the Union.

It is necessary to indicate under which conditions a differentiated integration is acceptable:

Differentiated integration should be the outcome of a common decision making process and not of the activity of a self elected hard core.
Differentiated integration should not be exclusive. Every Member State, willing and able, should be included. For those left outside at the start a procedure and a timetable for joining at a later stage should be outlined.
A Europe"a-la-carte", where every Member State picks and chooses the common policies it would like to link up with, must be rejected.
Differentiation should be implemented within the context of a single institutional framework whereby democratic accountability should be assured.

A situation in which the outcome of the Intergovernmental Conference on the new Treaty were not ratified by one or two Member States, needs further analysis and discussion.

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