| Author (Person) | Banks, Martin |
|---|---|
| Series Title | European Voice |
| Series Details | Vol.9, No.39, 20.11.03, p6 |
| Publication Date | 20/11/2003 |
| Content Type | News |
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By Martin Banks Date: 20/11/03 MEPS have given a cautious welcome to the European Commission's legislative plans for the coming year. The executive's 73 proposals were outlined by Commission President Romano Prodi during the Parliament's plenary session in Strasbourg on Tuesday. Measures aimed at achieving the objectives of the Lisbon Process - to make the EU the world's most dynamic knowledge-based economy by the end of the decade - will form the centrepiece of the work programme. Prodi said that while signs of economic recovery remained "fragile", the "worst seems to be over". He signalled that the enlargement of the EU would provide a huge opportunity for entrepreneurs, adding: "Business and consumer confidence is rising and optimism is growing among Europe's operators." Among the Commission's main priorities, he told the MEPs, was the need to shape the future of the newly-enlarged Union, completion of the single market and further investment in trans-European networks. "Among the many issues on the table, the one which is closest to my heart is the composition of the Commission," said the president. "It is claimed that a Commission with 25 or more members would be unworkable. Next year we will be putting that idea to the test because, for a period of six months, we will be welcoming colleagues from the new member states and the Commission will be composed of 30 members. "Of course, that will be a transitional situation in which no new portfolios will be created and will last only until the end of this Commission's term of office. "But I am convinced that, whether it has 25 or 30 members, the Commission can function extremely well." Prodi also forecast that 2004 would be a "year of challenges, large-scale renewal and major effort". "The European elections will provide a precious chance to gauge the extent to which citizens feel involved in the joint venture of integration and development which is the EU," he added. His comments brought a mixed reaction from leading MEPs. Hans-Gert Pöttering, head of the European People's Party, the biggest political group in the Parliament, said he was generally "satisfied" with the Commission's work programme. "It is OK, but we have now got to ensure that it is fully implemented and our attention is not diverted by the European elections," he added. UK Liberal member Nick Clegg commented: "It is clear there has been progress on the Commission's presentation of this document," but said the priorities of enlargement, stability and growth were too "open-ended". Clegg called for the Commission to respect the inter-institutional agreement signed in summer on better lawmaking. "The Commission explicitly committed itself in that agreement to explain fully in its annual legislative programme firstly, the choice of legislative instrument for each proposal and, secondly, the choice of legal base. "There are a few indications only on legal bases in these annexes, and no reference whatsoever to the choice of legislative instrument. It cannot be that two or three months after we signed the inter-institutional agreement on better lawmaking, the Commission at the first hurdle fails to honour the promise it made . . . it bodes extremely ill for the improvement of lawmaking." Romano Prodi, President of the European Commission, presented The Commission's Legislative and Work Programme for 2004 to a Plenary Session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg on 18 November 2003. |
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