Martin pledges to transform ‘tedious’ image of Parliament

Date: 13/09/01

THE election for the next president of the European Parliament was destined to be a boring one-horse race with the result known two years before the voting even started - that was until socialist MEP David Martin stepped into the picture.

Under a pact between the centre-right European People's Party (EPP) group and the Liberals, Irishman Pat Cox has been promised the post ever since current incumbent, Nicole Fontaine, came to power in 1999.

But now the socialist group has decided to challenge the previously inevitable by putting forward 47-year-old Martin as their candidate, ensuring that next January's election will be a whole lot more fun than expected.

Martin admits he is the underdog. "You would have to say that Pat Cox starts the favourite," he says. "But it's not a foregone conclusion."

Under the pact agreed in 1999, the Liberals agreed to vote for EPP candidate Fontaine on condition that the centre-right would return the favour and back Cox in 2002.

The combination of the EPP, the largest political group, and the Liberals, third largest, will make up a formidable voting force when MEPs cast their votes at the beginning of next year. It is not an unstoppable one however.

The smaller groups including the Greens, the Confederal Group of the European United Left/Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL), right-wing Europe of Nations and the eurosceptic Europe of Democracies and Diversities group could all hold the balance of power. "Whoever wins has to first win the support of some of the other political groups," Martin points out. "I will clearly start by trying to get the people like the GUE group and the Greens on board."

If Scottish deputy Martin is to win he needs cross-party support and to get it he will be relying on his reputation, built up over 12 years as a Parliamentary vice-president, for being a competent and fair wielder of the chairman's gavel.

As one deputy put it: "He's popular among MEPs because he always finishes votes on time and they don't have to wait to go for lunch."

Martin will also be relying on an election manifesto which he hopes will attract cross-party support from reform-minded deputies .

The Edinburgh-born MEP says his main priority is to make the Parliament a "more lively and interesting" chamber.

He wants to overhaul the way debates are run, scrapping the current rules in which each party is allocated a fixed speaking time and replacing it with a "catch-the-eye" system which gives those who really have something to say a better chance of getting to say it. "We have to reduce the length of time that we spend sitting in tedious meetings," he says. "We need to make the chamber more spontaneous in debate. Too often at the moment what we call debate is often just a series of speeches."

Secondly, Martin wants to revamp the institution's media and communication service in a bid to improve the Parliament's image.

He says debates should be scheduled so they fit in with press deadlines and the needs of TV networks and he wants to build a more "pro-active" press service that contacts the media with story ideas rather than waiting to respond to endless criticism. He is cagey, however, about whether this will mean spending more money.

All these reforms, he says, are crucial for tackling the rapid decline in public interest in the institution. For the first time in 1999 less than half of the European electorate bothered to turn out to vote. "The biggest tests for the Parliament is going to be the 2004 European elections," he said. "If we have a turnout akin to the last time it will be a disaster."

Conscious, no doubt, that a vote or two from any party could prove crucial in his presidential campaign, Martin is anxious to avoid offending anyone. He is reluctant to criticise Nicole Fontaine, saying she has been "a very good president". "She has defended the Parliament effectively and she chairs the plenary very well," he adds.

He does however attack her administration over its failure to deliver on reform of the deputies' pay and perks package. Clinching a deal on this, he says, would be the third of his key priorities.

Martin also refuses to attack his rival, insisting Cox is a man with whom he has always had "good relations".

As the campaign hots up during the next three months it will be surprising if things remain so cordial.

Interview with David Martin, the socialists' candidate in the contest to succeed Nicole Fontaine as president of the European Parliament.