| Author (Person) | Banks, Martin |
|---|---|
| Series Title | European Voice |
| Series Details | Vol.10, No.27, 22.7.04 |
| Publication Date | 22/07/2004 |
| Content Type | News |
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By Martin Banks Date: 22/07/04 MEPS from new member states have hit out at their "disappointingly low" share of top jobs in the European Parliament. Only 12 of the assembly's 63 key posts have gone to deputies and officials from the ten new countries. What jobs have been allocated to new member states have gone to the larger countries, such as Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic. Aldis Kuskis, a European People's Party (EPP-ED) member from Latvia, called for a change to the way senior positions are allocated. "I, and I suspect a lot of other MEPs from new member states, would have liked to see far better representation in the new Parliament," he said. "These new countries, such as Latvia, joined the EU wishing to work together with the old 15 members and it is important that new member-state MEPs occupy their fair share of senior posts so they can properly satisfy the interests of their electorate and exert some degree of influence. "It is very disappointing and, I am sorry to say, not very democratic." Parliament's top posts were shared out at this week's plenary session in Strasbourg, the first since last month's European elections. None of the leaders or secretaries-general from the six biggest political groups is from a new member state. Parliament's Bureau, the inner circle that shapes the assembly's agenda, consisting of its president and 14 vice-presidents, includes just three deputies from new member states. Out of the seven vice-presidents of Parliament boasted by the EPP-ED, two come from new members, one from the Czech Republic and one from Poland, while the newly formed Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE) proposed a Pole as vice-president of the assembly. When it comes to the assembly's 20 committee chairs, the EPP-ED, Parliament's biggest group, has designated a Slovak as chairwoman of the women's rights committee and a Pole as chair of the budgets committee. The Socialists and the UEN have each appointed one committee chair. New member state MEPs fare no better when it comes to the five posts of quaestors, those members responsible for the day-to-day running of MEPs' interests. The Socialists were the only group to put forward a candidate - a Pole. However, new member nations are better represented when it comes to the vice-presidents, or deputy leaders, of the political groups. Here, the EPP-ED and the Party of European Socialists (PES) each has a Hungarian deputy leader, while ALDE also has one (from Lithuania), the European United Left (GUE) has one (Czech Republic) and the new 31-strong Eurosceptic Independence and Democracy group can boast two (a Pole and a Czech). The Greens, Parliament's fourth-biggest group with 42 members, does not have a single MEP from a new member state in a senior position - but the group only includes one member from the ten accession countries. The former prime minister of Slovenia, Alojz Peterle, a newly elected MEP, said that it was not good enough to have only 12 top posts occupied by new member state MEPs. He said: "I would certainly have liked to have seen better representation in these posts from the new member states. "It would have sent out a signal to citizens in these countries that the Parliament takes enlargement of the Union really seriously." Another newly elected member warned that high-profile deputies from the ten new EU states are unlikely to stay in the Parliament if they are not given interesting posts. "Former ministers, or even prime ministers, will keep their eyes on the domestic political scene and will go back home whenever the possibility of a more prominent role occurs, if they are not given an incentive to stay in Parliament," he said. Polish MEP Konrad Szymanskim, a member of the Law and Justice party, which is aligned to the United Nations of Europe (UEN) group, hopes the situation will improve. "I hope that by the mid-term of this new Parliament things will have changed and we will see these people [from new member states] allocated some more senior posts." An Estonian member, who did not wish to be named, said: "There are 162 MEPs from new member states, representing nearly 25% of the new Parliament, but we have got nowhere near a quarter of the senior posts. Those jobs that have been given out, such as group vice-presidents, are token gestures and to have just four out of 20 committee chairs is a disgrace." However, Czech member Jaromir Kohlicek, from the Communist party of Bohemia and Moravia, disagrees, saying the distribution of posts is "perfectly fair". He added: "It is customary in any Parliament that newcomers do not immediately occupy the top posts. I have no problem with this." Spokespersons for each of the main political groups also defended this jobs share-out. "We are perfectly happy with the way posts have been allocated," an EPP-ED spokesman said. "It is worth emphasizing that a deputy from a new member state has one of Parliament's most powerful jobs, the chairmanship of the budgets committee." A spokesman for the 200-strong PES group said: "There are always competing interests but we have done our best to accommodate everyone." And a spokesman for the 89-member ALDE pointed to the fact that his group had nominated Bronislaw Geremek, from Poland, for Parliament's top job, the presidency, as proof of their commitment to allocating jobs fairly between old and new members. A Greens spokesman said that since his group had only one MEP elected from a new member state, a Latvian, "it can hardly be surprising none of our senior posts has gone to anyone from these [new] countries". MEPS from new Member States have hit out at their 'disappointingly low' share of top jobs in the European Parliament. Only 12 of the assembly's 63 key posts have gone to deputies and officials from the ten new countries. |
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