The European Parliament has sought a commitment from the heads of the EU governments that it will be fully involved at every stage of the negotiations on the forthcoming institutional reform of the EU.
The President of the Parliament, Ms Nicole Fontaine, told the European Council in Helsinki yesterday that when determining the purpose of the reforms it was necessary that the people of Europe were centre stage.
She said the full involvement of the European Parliament would facilitate the regular and open flow of information on the proposed reforms, thereby removing the possibility that the public would be "caught unawares" as it had been after the publication of the Maastricht Treaty. Ms Fontaine, from the French centre-right, said cultural integration should not be underestimated as an issue to be addressed as the membership of the EU increased. One of the problems to be overcome by the Inter-Governmental Conference overseeing the institutional reform would be what action to take on working languages as the EU gained new member-states.
Ms Fontaine said pragmatism and budgetary concerns suggested that the number of working languages should be limited. However, this might mean some countries would see their language being "assigned second-class status", even if it was already little used by other member-states.