The Gazette 1973

THE VEDEL REPORT ON REFORM OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ERWAN FOUERE comments on the recent important report on the EEC institutions

The Vedel group's proposals to ameliorate and induce some democratic control into the Community Institu- tional System are based mainly on an extension of the Legislative Powers of the Parliament. Although the Council of Ministers would continue to be the main legislative organ of the community, in certain cases a power of co-decision would be attributed to the Parlia- ment. The report proposes two stages in this develop- ment. In the first stage, the Parliament would receive a power of co-decision with the Council of Ministers in the following matters: revision of the treaties, application of article 235 of the EEC Rome Treaty, (new actions not expressly covered by the treaty but which are required for a proper functioning of the Community), admission of new members, and ratifica- tion of international treaties concluded by the com- munity. During this first stage, the European Parlia- ment would also receive a consultative power reinforced by a suspensive veto in areas of community policy deal- ing with harmonisation of legislation and common policies, transport policy, etc. This would allow the Parliament to demand a second deliberation on a decision taken by the Council of Ministers. The Council of Ministers would then have to proceed with a second deliberation; its subsequent decision would be final and executive. In the second stage, this suspensive veto power in the areas listed would be turned into a power of co- decision alongside the four main areas where co-decision is allowed already in the first stage. No timetable provided for direct election On the question of the method of election of the European Parliament, it is significant that the group were unanimous in stating that direct elections of the European Parliament should not be regarded as a pre- condition to the strengthening of its powers. As the report says, it is not a change in the method of recruit- ment of the Parliament which will automatically rein- force its powers. Rather, once the progress towards an increase in the powers of the Parliament has been advanced, the logical follow-up will be the immediate application of article 138 of the Rome Treaty. It is perhaps a pity, however, that the report doesn't bring out a precise timetable for this implementation. But the report does include the opinion of some members of the group who were in favour of an implementa- tion of direct elections by 1978; others felt, however, that the complex preparatory procedure would depend on political circumstances difficult to evaluate in any precise manner. As to the actual method whereby the parliamentarians would be directly elected, the group agreed that, as a transitory measure, the elections could be carried out according to each country's electoral system. Two members of the group, however, came out strongly in favour of a uniform electoral system with the least possible delay. They felt that this would facilitate the creation of political parties on a Euro- pean level. It is difficult to know what sort of decision, if any, 152

An extension of the legislative powers of the Euro- pean Parliament, direct involvement in the appoint- ment of the Commission, implementation of Article 138 of the Rome Treaty providing for direct election of the European Parliament—these are some of the re- commendations contained in the recently published Vedel report which recognises the need for an overall strengthening of the powers of the Parliament so as to ensure a greater participation in the institutional framework of the community. Composition of group The Vedel group—Professor Georges Vedel of Paris University was its chairman—was established by the Commission towards the end of last year and given the task of examining the future role and powers of the European Parliament consequent on enlargement and its relation with the other community institutions. It was composed of fourteen eminent lawyers and consti- tutional professors from the six member countries and the four applicants; Senator Mary Robinson was the Irish representative on the group. Over 120 pages long, the report covers a wide area putting forward a con- siderable amount of recommendations and proposals. Present position—Council sole decision-making power It begins by casting a hard look at what the Com- munity has already achieved since 1958, and enumer- ates the areas where little or no progress has been made so far, or where action on a European Community level is just starting, such as regional policy and economic and monetary union. After setting the context it goes on to examine the position and powers of the Com- munity Institutions set up by the Paris and Rome Treaties, and comes to the conclusion that the Council of Ministers has reached a point where it is now the sole centre of decision-making within the Community, to the detriment of the Commission. The Commission's power of initiative and the substance of its proposals are considerably diminished as a consequence. The Parliament, at present a body with purely consultative powers, is also affected by this preponderance of the Council of Ministers in the decision-making process; the lines of political communication are much more direct with the Commission, on which it has a certain control, than with the Council of Ministers. The report also points out that the decision-making process as now operating erodes the functions of the National Parliaments without at the same time replacing this function on the Community level—'the logic of any democratic system requires that this decrease in parlia- mentary powers on a national level should be replaced in some way on the European level'. Need to strengthen European Parliament This brings the group to state unequivocally that there is a grave need for the powers of the European Parliament to be strengthened in view of the new areas of activity at European community level, notably economic and monetary union.