MEPs threaten veto if treaty fails to deliver

Date: 07/12/00

By John Shelley

MEPs are warning EU leaders that they will veto the Nice Treaty if it does not go far enough in preparing the Union's institutions for enlargement.

Euro MPs say that if member states cannot reach an agreement which sufficiently streamlines the EU's decision-making process at this weekend's summit, they should concede defeat and let the Intergovernmental Conference talks run into next year.

"If no substantial result is reached in Nice, in particular on qualified majority voting, it would be better to admit failure and to continue to negotiate under the Swedish and the Belgian presidencies," said German MEP Hans Gert Pöttering, leader of the centre-right European People's Party, the assembly's biggest political group.

Other senior MEPs including Socialist leader Enrique Barón Crespo and Liberal Group chief Pat Cox have also hinted that MEPs could block the treaty if the deal done at Nice does not come up to scratch.

The threat comes as the Parliament grows increasingly gloomy about the chances of a far-reaching agreement.

MEPs are worried that EU leaders will fudge a deal which will not reform the Union's institutions sufficiently to avoid paralysis in an expanded EU. They also fear that member states will resist calls to give the assembly joint decision-making powers in more areas, a move which Euro MPs insist is vital to ensure the Union becomes more democratically accountable.

At an extraordinary meeting called between the Parliament and French European Affairs Minister Pierre Moscovici earlier this week, two days before the summit began, Barón Crespo spoke of an atmosphere of "increased pessimism" about the outcome of the summit.

His centre-right counterpart Pöttering pulled no punches in warning the French presidency that if Nice was a failure, the blame would lie firmly at its feet for refusing to compromise. "If you do not produce the right kind of example, how can you expect others to follow suit?" he asked Moscovici.

The Parliament, which will debate the outcome of the summit next week, insists that it must produce agreement on moving from unanimity to qualified majority voting in the Council of Ministers in key areas such as trade policy, justice and home affairs, and tax. MEPs are also demanding that heads of state and governments agree to share law-making powers with the Parliament in as many areas as possible under the 'co-decision procedure'.

If little progress is made, MEPs such as centre-right German Elmar Brok, one of two parliamentarians who have sat in on the IGC negotiations, say the assembly must reject the deal.

"A European Parliament refusal of a treaty from Nice could soon become a reality if the summit fails to achieve its goals," he said.

The warnings came as EU leaders geared up for a bruising round of negotiations in Nice, starting tonight (7 December). Diplomats warned that the toughest issue would be the share-out of votes in the Council, with all eyes on France to see whether it would agree to give Germany more than any other member state.

They added that unless Paris was prepared to give up its veto on trade negotiations in services, there was little hope of progress in other contentious areas where many believe qualified majority voting is needed, such as justice and home affairs and social policy. The future size of the Commission also remains controversial, with four countries blocking moves to cap the number of Commissioners when the Union takes in up to 13 new members.

MEPs are warning EU leaders that they will veto the Nice Treaty if it does not go far enough in preparing the Union's institutions for enlargement. Euro MPs say that if Member States cannot reach an agreement which sufficiently streamlines the EU's decision-making process at the summit, they should concede defeat and let the Intergovernmental Conference talks run into 2001.