ESC launches bid to expand remit at IGC

Date: 02/05/1996

By Rory Watson

THE EU's Economic and Social Committee has launched a major initiative aimed at raising its profile and ensuring its interests are not ignored at the Intergovernmental Conference.

Carlos Ferrer, president of the long-standing advisory body, is virtually half-way through a series of meetings with each of the EU's leaders in the run-up to the Florence summit in June.

Ferrer, who meets Dutch Premier Wim Kok in The Hague today (2 May) on the latest leg of his tour of EU countries, is already on familiar terms with a number of European leaders from his days as president of the European employers' organisation UNICE.

Having changed hats, the prominent Spanish businessman is now promoting a different message.

He believes that the Economic and Social Committee (ESC) is well placed to bridge the credibility gap between the Union and its citizens, one of the key themes of this round of IGC negotiations. Its 222 members come from a range of economic and social backgrounds and all maintain strong national links.

Ferrer argues this makes them ideally placed to explain EU policy to their domestic colleagues and to channel local concerns into the wider Union debate.

In contrast to critics who believe the ESC's opinions count for little, Ferrer is telling EU leaders that governments ought to listen carefully to its views and treat it as the formal voice of organised civil society.

That voice is currently emphasising the need for Union activity to increase competitiveness and tackle unemployment.

Ferrer is also trying to enlist Union leaders' support for the changes which the ESC would like to see made to the Maastricht Treaty. These are aimed at expanding the advisory body's role and ensuring that it no longer has to share certain staff and facilities with the regional and local authority representatives of the newly-created Committee of the Regions.

The ESC wants to be raised to the status of a fully-fledged EU institution alongside the Commission, Parliament, Council of Ministers, Court of Auditors and European Court of Justice. Such a promotion would give it greater autonomy over its budget and working procedures.

The ESC is also pressing for a greater consultative role. It wants the EU to enter into a formal obligation to canvass the views of its members on draft legislation on the free movement of people, cultural activities and citizens' rights.

It has also raised the possibility of providing greater input into initial policy preparation by being allowed to contribute to consultative Green and White Papers drawn up by the Commission.

ESC officials maintain that Ferrer has already won pledges of support for the Committee's proposals from the prime ministers of Portugal, Spain, Finland, Denmark, Belgium and Italy.

If true, it would mark a significant shift in attitude among EU governments since the early 1990s.

In the run-up to Maastricht, so many questions were raised about the role of the Committee that there was even talk of abolishing it altogether.