Time for a ‘progressive’ group to inject EP with new blood

Date: 17/06/04

By Giovanni Grevi

IN THE aftermath of the European elections, a ghost haunts the corridors of the Parliament: a new political group in the making. Welcomed by some, feared by others, a new political group with a strong European 'soul' and pro-integration agenda at the centre of the assembly could change the rules of the political game in the EU.

There are many doubts and obstacles to its creation. The biggest problem is that the consensual nature of EU policymaking does not encourage polarization in the political debate. If anything, some argue that party-political opposition in the European Parliament increasingly runs alongside the Left-Right divide familiar to national systems and not along the 'more or less European integration' divide.

In a contribution for Ideas Factory Europe - an independent platform for debate and policy input promoted by a group of young professionals across Europe - Sandro Gozi makes the first concrete case for the much-discussed creation of a new political group with a progressive EU agenda.

Gozi stresses that a real 'European' political arena still has to emerge. A new, pro-European political group would shake current balances within Parliament and introduce a confrontational style of political debate. This would make party competition stronger and thus give the European debate more substance and visibility. According to Gozi, the predominant divide in European politics would still revolve around demands for more or less EU integration.

Once set up, the new group should seek to build alliances with reformist forces in order to achieve a political majority within the Parliament. The group should act as a magnet to attract pro-European forces and should refuse admission to those MEPs or parties that do not share the ambition of a stronger Europe.

In order to bring European politics closer to the citizens, the new party should allow and encourage individual membership. This would make it different from other 'European parties', which are mere associations of national parties, with no direct connection with citizens.

The group's internal organization should reflect its federalist nature, by breaking the link between the size of national delegations and the distribution of relevant functions in Parliament. Prominent tasks - such as chairing Parliamentary committees or the drafting of reports - should be allocated on merit and not on nationality.

As for the political priorities of the group, these should include deepening European citizenship, integrating migrants into society and promoting a new form of diplomacy, based on cultural dialogue with the EU's partners and a new institutional framework to include neighbouring countries.

Gozi (a member of cabinet of the president of the European Commission, but writing in a personal capacity) is certain to be contradicted. Many will argue that a democratic debate at the supranational level should take place along national party lines and not by building a centrist, pro-European coalition. But such a lively exchange would inject fresh blood into the European political debate.

• Giovanni Grevi is coordinator of Ideas Factory Europe and associate director of studies with the European Policy Centre, Brussels.

Article discusses the possibility of the creation of a new political group in the European Parliament. On the European Policy Centre website (see Related URL) there is a June 2004 paper by Sandro Gozi, 'Manifesto for a "European" political group', which makes the case for the creation of a new political formation which would be supportive of a progressive agenda at the European level. The paper outlines what should be the political priorities of this political group, and how it should function, with a view to building a truly European party.

http://www.epc.eu/ http://www.epc.eu/

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