Pöttering told to defend MEPs’ independence

The newly elected European Parliament President Hans-Gert Pöttering faced calls to ensure the independence of MEPs from national governments and to allow the assembly to take a position on where it meets, in a debate between the four candidates who stood for the presidency organised by European Voice in Strasbourg on 15 January.

Opening the debate, Francis Wurtz, president of the European United Left-Nordic Green Alliance, said his aim was to offer "another vision" of European construction than the liberal one being offered by Pöttering.

Jens-Peter Bonde, co-chair of the Independence and Democracy group, said that "Pöttering’s problem is his strength", adding that the candidate of Parliament’s largest group, the EPP-ED, had been "appointed by the CDU", the German Christian Democrat Union. To illustrate his point he presented a clearly embarrassed Pöttering with a crown as a sign of the "coronation" process.

Bonde said that the deal among the big groups to choose Pöttering meant there would be no progress on the question of Parliament meeting in Strasbourg. "Pöttering’s masters will never let us have a debate," he said, suggesting that the president of the Parliament should invite the new French head of state, to be elected in spring, and the prime ministers of Luxembourg and Belgium (the homes of the other EU institutions) to debate the question of the Parliament’s seat. He warned that it would be impossible to increase turnout for the European elections in 2009 unless this was tackled, because it was the issue voters raised most often.

Bonde expressed concern about politicisation of Parliament staff, highlighting a recent decision to appoint David Harley, the former Socialist group secretary-general, as deputy secretary-general of the assembly. Bonde said that while he did not question the qualification of individuals, staff should be neutral when appointed.

He also called for an end to using the ‘D’Hondt system’ for allocating posts such as committee chairs, saying it discriminated against smaller groups and countries, and failed to ensure that the best qualified MEPs got matching responsibilities.

Greens/European Free Alliance co-president Monica Frassoni echoed many of Bonde’s concerns, saying that she wanted to ensure there would be an "autonomous and independent Parliament".

She said that the Parliament risked undermining its capacity to act by not taking action on key issues such as the EU constitution because the big groups did not want it.

Frassoni warned that Parliament was failing to exercise its powers on important dossiers such as the new chemicals safety legislation (REACH). She blamed the tendency on the "grand coalition" of Socialists and Christian Democrats, both in Berlin and the European Parliament. Frassoni said that MEPs ought to be allowed to debate where the Parliament should sit. She also drew attention to what she called the "increased political labelling of the administration", the distribution of jobs within the institution according to the candidates’ political affiliation, which was a "real problem". Another aspect of her programme was to "green" the Parliament by reducing waste and energy consumption.

Pöttering, who won the vote a day later with 450 votes of 715 votes cast, stressed his experience, saying that he had spent the longest time of any president preparing for the job, having been one of the first directly elected MEPs in 1979.

He said his aim as president would be to bring Europe closer to the citizens and that he "deeply believed" in the dignity of the human being. This allowed him to be equally critical of the behaviour of the Russian army in Chechnya as well as criticising the Guantánamo Bay detention centre. He also highlighted his plan to continue a dialogue of cultures including further visits to Arab and Islamic countries.

Responding to suggestions that he was against reform, Pöttering argued that he had always defended a "strong Parliament" as well as an effective European Commission and a transparent Council of Ministers.

He rejected a suggestion from a journalist that the way he had been elected undermined the credibility of the Parliament as a democratic institution, pointing out that it was normal for the leader of a national parliament to come from the biggest group. Pöttering sought to emphasise his political independence by pointing out that at the time of the election he was the only candidate who was no longer the leader of a political group and therefore had "no safety net" if he was not elected.

Asked about a potential lack of broad support for the EU when the leaders of the three biggest institutions came from the centre-right, Pöttering said this was a "historical coincidence" as was the fact that Germans held the presidency of Parliament and the presidency of the EU. He insisted that as president of the Parliament, if he tried to "only push through the position of the EPP-ED" he would "not get very far". Instead, he pledged to represent the majority view of Parliament, saying that it was important to get large majorities of MEPs including the support of Liberals and Greens where possible.

On the constitution, he pledged to ensure that the Parliament’s voice was heard. Bonde said that the assembly should not just take an overall view as an institution but should also acknowledge the views of the many MEPs who oppose the constitution.

Summing up, Pöttering promised to be a "president of all members of the European Parliament".

The newly elected European Parliament President Hans-Gert Pöttering faced calls to ensure the independence of MEPs from national governments and to allow the assembly to take a position on where it meets, in a debate between the four candidates who stood for the presidency organised by European Voice in Strasbourg on 15 January.