National assemblies to see more action

Date: 08/01/1998

By Rory Watson

NATIONAL parliaments will be brought even closer to the centre of the EU's decision-making structure during the coming year.

Practical initiatives under consideration in the European Parliament are designed to bring national assemblies, which have no formal status in the Union's legislative process, in from the sidelines of EU activity.

In future, national parliaments will be given early warning of European Commission legislative and budgetary proposals, even if these are still only at an embryonic stage, by receiving them as soon as they are presented to EU ambassadors in the Committee of permanent representatives (Coreper).

"When something goes to Coreper, even if it is not the definitive Commission proposal, then it will be given to the European Parliament, which will pass it on to national parliaments. It will be a practical way of assisting them in their scrutiny role and in introducing greater transparency," explained European Parliament Secretary-General Julian Priestley.

The initiative was agreed at a meeting towards the end of last year between various parliamentary secretaries-general and their counterpart in the European Commission, Carlo Trojan.

It is designed to give national deputies as much time as possible to examine future EU legislation. Under the Union's treaties, this consultation period is officially limited to six weeks from the time the formal proposal is tabled.

Closer contacts will also be developed, with the appearance of a monthly newsletter produced by the European Parliament charting the Amsterdam Treaty's progress as it makes its way through the ratification process in the Union's 15 national parliaments.

Efforts are also being made to improve exchanges of national and European parliamentary staff. A number of member states are already taking advantage of such exchanges - especially the UK, Sweden, Finland and Denmark - and the parliaments of the latter two even have official representatives in Brussels.

But to date the flow has been very much one way. Virtually no EU official has taken up the opportunity of a short-term stay in a national parliament.

Supporters of closer contacts believe these are all the more necessary given the increased legislative powers which MEPs will enjoy under the Amsterdam Treaty, and the need for efficient parliamentary scrutiny of Union activities.

Technological progress is another factor breaking down barriers. Senior MEPs have recommended that their institution's Internet site should be made quickly and easily accessible to assemblies in member states and should also contain complete texts of legislative proposals.

Later this month, the Conference of European Affairs Committees (COSAC), which regularly brings together national and Euro MPs, is due to open its own website once this has been fully developed by the Luxembourg parliament.

Attempts to establish closer links between MEPs and deputies in national capitals go back many years, but only started coming to prominence some seven years ago as the Maastricht Treaty became a reality.

Since 1991, multilateral contacts have been on the increase, COSAC has become a recognised contact point for national and Euro parliamentarians, and the suspicions which some outsiders harboured about the European Parliament have gradually evaporated.

But the trend has been far from uniform. Parliamentary foreign affairs committees meet twice a year, frequent round tables are organised and some of the European Parliament's own specialised committees - notably those dealing with institutional affairs, civil liberties, the budget, economic and monetary affairs and employment and social matters - are particularly active in meeting their national counterparts.

In contrast, however, almost half the MEPs' committees have failed to involve national deputies in a single round table gathering over the past three years.

In a bid to develop existing contacts further, the European Parliament's two vice-presidents in charge of relations with national assemblies - French Christian Democrat Nicole Fontaine and Italian Socialist Renzo Imbeni - have presented a number of specific recommendations which are likely to be implemented this year.

They have suggested regular multilateral consultations on the Commission's White and Green Papers, better feedback to national parliamentarians on the EU's legislative conciliation procedure and the gradual involvement in MEPs' business of parliaments in the applicant countries.