Wallström to spell out political cost of ‘No’ votes

Institutional Relations Commissioner Margot Wallström will present MEPs with a report on the cost of the failure to adopt the constitution by the end of November, according to Commission officials.

Commission President José Manuel Barroso had blocked Wallström’s plan to draw up a report in response to a request from MEPs in September. But he has agreed to allow her to produce a report provided it only focuses on the political impact of not having the constitution in force rather than trying to quantify the economic cost.

The news was welcomed by German Socialist MEP Jo Leinen, chairman of the Parliament’s constitutional affairs committee. He drew up his own report in September in protest at Barroso’s refusal to have the Commission produce a report.

But Leinen said that it would be "extremely useful to show the public and citizens that not being able to take decisions costs a lot of money, not just a loss of influence", citing the examples of the lack of a proper EU energy policy in the wake of last weekend’s blackouts. He said that he would probably ask Wallström to draw up a report on the economic costs when she appeared before the constitutional affairs committee on 22 November to present the Commission’s findings.

The report, currently being worked on by the Commission’s secretariat-general, with input from Wallström’s office and the Commission’s legal service, will focus on blockages in the certain areas of policymaking such as justice and home affairs where the need for unanimity is a major impediment to getting agreement.

Institutional Relations Commissioner Margot Wallström will present MEPs with a report on the cost of the failure to adopt the constitution by the end of November, according to Commission officials.