Guarded response to ‘governance’ plan

Date: 17/02/2000

By Simon Taylor

EU DIPLOMATS have reacted cautiously to European Commission President Romano Prodi's plans for a far-reaching overhaul of relations between the Union's institutions, arguing that he risks simply repeating old debates about power-sharing within the EU.

The warning came as Prodi presented his priorities for his five-year term of office to the European Parliament, insisting that Europe needed to develop new forms of 'governance' for the next century.

He said this would require a new "division of labour" between the Commission, other institutions and civil society, and a "radical rethink" of how to deliver policies in a Union of up to 30 member states.

Calling for a profound review of the Commission's role, Prodi insisted that "all our policies need to be fundamentally reassessed in view of our priorities" and "inappropriate" ones revised or scrapped.

The Commission president insisted that the time had come for "radical decentralisation", returning power to member states in areas where decisions could be taken more effectively at national level. This, he said, would enable the Commission to "better fulfil its role as guardian of the treaty without necessarily performing all executive tasks".

In his speech to the Parliament, Prodi used the example of planned changes to the EU's competition regime to illustrate how the Commission wanted to move away from the strongly centralised set-up created in the early years of the EU and give power back to national authorities. He said this would allow the Commission to concentrate on core tasks such as developing and interpreting rules, and dealing with cases which had a real Union-wide impact.

But national diplomats have expressed doubts that the president will be able to bring about any meaningful changes in the relationship between governments and the Commission.

"Prodi's plans at the moment sound a lot like new wine in old bottles," said one, adding that the Commission chief's ideas bore a strong similarity to his predecessor Jacques Santer's bid to boost the institution's image by "doing less better". Others drew parallels with the commitment to subsidiarity - the principle that the EU should only act in areas which cannot be left to member states - enshrined in the Maastricht Treaty.

However, some said the president's plans to extend the approach already being taken towards competition to other policy areas offered a thought-provoking model for developing the Union.

Prodi has promised to set out his ideas in a White Paper on European governance by next spring. His vision goes beyond Vice-President Neil Kinnock's recommendation that the Commission should refuse to take on new responsibilities for which it does not have the necessary resources. Prodi envisages the Commission "shedding low-priority activities" and freeing up resources for the most important tasks it has to perform.

EU diplomats have reacted cautiously to European Commission President Romano Prodi's plans for a far-reaching overhaul of relations between the Union's institutions, arguing that he risks simply repeating old debates about power-sharing within the EU.