Convention Chief under fire as MEPs voice fears of a ‘Grand Giscardian project’

Date: 07/02/02

By Martin Banks

MEPs are demanding that the European Union's new reform drive does not become a 'grand Giscardian project.'

They have accused former French president Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, who will head the forthcoming Convention on Europe's future, of trying to monopolise the body and limit the influence of its members.

'We must ensure this does not become a grand Giscardian project,' said British Liberal deputy Andrew Duff, deputy chairman of the 16-strong group of MEPs who will sit on the body.

The members are particularly angered by Giscard d'Estaing's proposal that the 105-member Convention should meet just one afternoon a month in plenary session while with the presidium - the elite group of top politicians - will meet once every two weeks.

'This is completely outrageous,' said Duff. 'I have great respect for Giscard but we must ensure that the presidium is the servant of the Convention, not the other way round.'

However, Giscard d'Estaing yesterday (6 February) told party group leaders in Strasbourg that the Convention would meet in full more than 20 times per year.

This should allay the fear of the MEPs, one of whom - German centre-right deputy Elmar Brok, had earlier echoed Duff's concerns. 'It is totally unacceptable to suggest the Convention meets only one day a month.,' Brok said. 'Its members are charged with the huge task of shaping the future of Europe and I believe it should meet more regularly.'

There is also some concern that the presidium's 12 members, will meet in private.

Duff has written expressing the deputies' concerns to Inigo Mendez de Vigo and Klaus Hansch, the two MEP representatives on the presidium.

'The Convention's first and most important decision is to settle its own working methods and I am seeking an assurance that this whole thing isn't monopolised by Giscard and a small elite,' Duff said.

German Social Democrat MEP Hansch said: 'You can rest assured I will not allow the Convention to become a Giscardian project.'

The Convention chief met with Parliament President Pat Cox yesterday to outline his plans.

The task of the Convention is to examine how to 'reconnect' the EU with citizens who perceive it as distant and over-bureaucratic, and to discuss how the EU will operate when it takes in up to 12 new members from southern and eastern Europe.

Among the thorny issues to be examined are further restrictions on the use of national vetoes and the distribution of power between nation states and Brussels.

The Convention will start work in Brussels on 28 February. It is to report back to the EU heads of state and government with recommendations in 2003.

Meanwhile, Giscard d'Estaing has named his six-strong Secretariat. They are: John Kerr (secretary-general), Annalisa Giannella (deputy secretary-general), Nikolaus Meyer-Landrut (spokesman), Walpurga Speckbacher (head of cabinet), Alan Piotrowski and Alessandre Schiavo (both cabinet members).

MEPs have accused former French president Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, who will head the forthcoming Convention on Europe's future, of trying to monopolise the body and limit the influence of its members.