Giscard blueprint branded ‘unacceptable’ by small states

Date: 24/04/03

By Dana Spinant

Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, chairman of the Convention on Europe's future, has sent shock waves across the EU with his proposals for a full-time president of the European Council and seven-member board.

The plans were immediately dubbed as "totally unacceptable" by several smaller member states. One European commissioner predicted they would result in the "presidentialisation" of the EU and risk a stalemate in the forum, which is due to report to EU leaders with its conclusions on 20 June.

The Commission President Romano Prodi described the proposals, unveiled on 22 April, as "disappointing". Iñigo Méndez de Vigo, representing the European Parliament on the praesidium, said they were "merely a personal proposal of Giscard" and pledged to combat them. Another MEP, Elmar Brok, chairman of the European People's Party group, the largest in the Convention, branded the blueprint as "autistic". "President Giscard is reflecting in no way the views expressed in the Convention," he added.

Convention insiders told this paper that the discussions within the 13-member praesidium yesterday (23 April) were "unprecedentedly heated".

Giscard's proposals disregard a plea by 18 small member states in Athens last week to keep the existing rotating presidency which they say guarantees member states' equality. However, the blueprint is backed by the large member states, as France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK are all in favour of a single, stable president of the European Council.

Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, a leading figure on the small states' front, said the proposals were "pure provocation".

A senior Belgian official warned that no compromise was possible on the text. "Giscard had a chance to go down in history. But if the Convention fails because of this proposal, he will blow his chances of that," he said.

The most controversial aspect of the proposal foresees EU leaders electing a chairman, either among themselves or former government leaders, who would have a two-and-a-half-year mandate.

Prodi hinted at the informal Athens summit on 16 April that he would accept the idea of a chairman of the European Council, so long as he had only a coordination role and no executive powers.

However, the Commission claims the president proposed by Giscard would enjoy executive powers. "Look at his job description. He would represent the Union abroad in foreign affairs, he would take initiatives, and talk to Bush on behalf of the EU. Isn't that an executive function?" one Commission official remarked.

The Commission also rejected Giscard's proposal to set up a seven-member board within the European Council, which would ensure coherence in the Union's activities. The board, gathering the president and vice-chairman as well as two other European Council members "chosen in equal rotation" and the presidents of the Commission and Parliament, "would undermine the checks and balances in place between the EU institutions", a statement from the Commission said.

"It could lead to unequal treatment of member states and this would jeopardize the trust between them. The Union does not need power to be concentrated in the hands of an intergovernmental bureau," it added.

Equally disputed is a proposal to reduce the Commission's size to 13 members, including its president and two vice-presidents (one of whom would be the Union's foreign minister). That would mean that some member states would not have a commissioner. Instead, "Commission counsellors" would be appointed to assist the board - a consolation prize for those countries without their own commissioner.

The result would be a "presidentialisation" of the EU, warned one commissioner, compared to the "parliamentarisation" needed to boost European democracy.

He pointed out that while Giscard proposed creating a new European Council president and vice-president, and a strengthening of the role of the Commission and Parliament presidents, there was no reinforcement of the powers of the two institutions.

"The president of the European Parliament will be elected for five years, [instead of two and a half years as now], the president of the Commission will choose his commissioners on lists provided by member states. He can also choose his counsellors: more presidents and stronger presidents. But not stronger EU institutions, except for the Council, which represents the member states. Is that what we need?" he asked.

In a move that adds fuel to the fire, Giscard's blueprint also proposes his pet project, a Congress of European peoples, gathering members of the European and national parliaments, that may in the future elect the president and vice-president of the European Council. The idea is broadly opposed by the Convention.

Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, chairman of the Convention on Europe's future, has sent shock waves across the EU with his proposals for a full-time president of the European Council and seven-member board.