Convention delay looms amid wrangles

Date: 14/02/02

By Martin Banks

THE MUCH-awaited launch of the Convention on the future of Europe may have to be postponed.

The Convention is due to start work in less than a fortnight but the elite praesidium, headed by ex-French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, has still not named all 12 of its members.

Ten members are known but the 15 EU national parliaments are yet to decide who their two representatives will be.

Socialist members say that behind-the-scenes squabbling between member states on their nominees is the cause of the delay.

The row has cast a shadow over preparations for the 28 February launch of the EU's effort to bring more transparency and democratic legitimacy to the institutions.

The Group of European Socialists (PES), which has 180 of the European Parliament's 626 MEPs, says the Convention would instantly lose credibility if the praesidium - the executive which will be responsible for drafting its recommendations - starts work without representatives of national assemblies.

PES group leader, Spaniard Enrique Baron, said: 'it will not be possible for the praesidium to begin its work without the presence of representatives of the 15 national parliaments.

'We are, therefore, calling on the Spanish presidency to organise, as quickly as possible, the selection of these two appointments.'

Baron spoke out after discussing the matter on Tuesday with leaders of the 17 political parties in the PES.

The praesidium will be headed by Giscard d'Estaing and two deputies, former Italian Prime Minister Giuliano Amato and ex-Belgian premier Jean-Luc Dehaene.

Ana Palacio, Henning Christo-phersen and Giorgios Katiforis will represent Spain, Denmark and Greece, the three governments which hold the rotating EU presidency during the tenure of the Convention; MEPs Iñigo Méndez de Vigo and Klaus Hansch have been chosen by the European Parliament, and Commissioners Michel Barnier and António Vitorino represent the EU executive.

German deputy Hansch said: 'The sooner the national parliamentary representatives are chosen the better,' adding he is also concerned that Palacio is the only woman to be appointed so far. 'For it to be credible, it is important the praesidium is well balanced with a mixture of both men and women,' he said.

Giscard d'Estaing's spokesman Nikolaus Meyer-Landrut said he was optimistic that the full make-up of the praesidium will be known by the time it is due to start work in Brussels at the end of the month.

The task of the Convention is to examine how to 'reconnect' the EU with citizens who perceive it as a distant and over-bureaucratic body.

Among the thorny issues to be examined are further restrictions on the use of national vetoes.

The much-awaited launch of the Convention on the future of Europe may have to be postponed. The Convention is due to start work on 28 February 2002, but the 15 EU national parliaments have yet to decide who their two representatives will be.