Franco-German plan threatens power balance, claim Liberals

Date: 30/01/03

THE European Liberals strongly reject the Franco-German proposal for a full-time president of the European Council with executive powers as "this threatens the institutional balance in the EU".

In their first-ever common position on the future of the EU, the Liberals also discard the idea of a Congress of the people of Europe, put forward by the Convention's chairman, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing.

They group supports the proposal for a European foreign minister, who would be a vice-president of the European Commission, as well as the election of the president of the European Commission by MEPs.

In their 16-point list of proposals to the Convention, the Liberals also call for transforming the European Court of Justice into a Constitutional Court which would oversee EU and member states' competencies as well as fundamental rights. Access of individuals to the Court should be improved, they add.

The Liberals back giving regional authorities the right to bring a case before the Court of Justice in the event of the EU institutions infringing their prerogatives.

They also urge that qualified majority voting and co-decision between the Parliament and the Council becomes the norm.

The European Liberals strongly reject the Franco-German proposal for a full-time president of the European Council with executive powers as 'this threatens the institutional balance in the EU'.