EU: The Government's representative at the Convention on the Future of Europe, Mr Dick Roche, has warned the convention's work may have been wrecked by radical proposals for the reform of EU institutions, writes Denis Staunton in Brussels.
Mr Roche said the convention's president, Mr Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, had brought the body's entire process into question by attempting to impose his blueprint for reform. "He could well be the author of the convention's failure. We were working to produce consensus and now people are openly talking about producing alternatives," Mr Roche said. Mr Giscard yesterday presented the convention with draft treaty articles on the reform of the EU's three central institutions - the Commission, the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament.
The proposals are less radical than those originally proposed by Mr Giscard but they have still not received the backing of the convention's 12-person presidium. Mr Giscard said yesterday that it was clear many members of the convention were unwilling to move far beyond the changes to EU institutions agreed in the Nice Treaty. "There are many who are happy with Europe as it is and who believe that present arrangements provide the best guarantees for their rights. They would be content with small, tinkering changes to the existing treaties," he said.
The draft articles presented yesterday propose that EU leaders meeting in the European Council should elect a president for a term of 2½ years, renewable once. Mr Giscard stressed that the president would function as a chairman of the council, organising its work and ensuring proper presentation and continuity. The president would have to have served as an EU head of government for at least two years. The articles also propose the formation of a "legislative council" in which ministers from EU member-states would vote to enact EU legislation.
Mr Giscard acknowledged that there was no consensus at the convention in favour of setting up a congress, or second chamber of the European Parliament. But some members of the convention claimed yesterday that the proposal for a legislative council represented an attempt to create a congress by stealth.
Mr Roche said the Government would propose sweeping amendments to the draft articles.
"We'll be drawing a line through a lot of these articles and proposing alternatives," he said. Mr Roche hinted that a compromise could be achieved on the appointment of a president of the European Council. But he said the Government would resist proposals to change the composition of the Commission.
The draft treaty articles are available at http://european-convention.eu.int