Commission rejects EU president plan
Former French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing, in charge of the convention on the future of Europe. Some 11,000 policemen were deployed in the Greek capital where EU leaders formally welcomed the European Union's 10 new member states.
AFP PHOTO/Patrick KOVARIK
By GARETH HARDING,
UPI Chief
European Correspondent
BRUSSELS (UPI) - The European Commission Wednesday lashed out at plans drawn up by former French leader Valery Giscard d'Estaing that would create a powerful position of EU president.
Giscard d'Estaing, who heads a body of parliamentarians charged with drawing up a constitution for the European Union, unveiled his proposals Tuesday, 22 April. They are aimed at answering "who does what?" in a union that is set to almost double in size over the next four years.
In addition to an EU president, the 76-year old politician - who has compared himself to US founding father Benjamin Franklin - said the western European bloc should have a vice president, a foreign minister and a Cabinet composed of the heads of the European Parliament and commission.
The proposals have the broad backing of Britain, France, Germany and Spain. But while there is general agreement that the EU needs a single foreign minister, the commission, parliament and smaller states are fiercely opposed to the idea of constructing a European "White House."
In a strongly worded statement Wednesday, the commission - the EU's executive arm - said Giscard d'Estaing's plans would "undermine the checks and balances" between the EU's three main institutions, "lead to an unequal treatment of member states" and "jeopardize the trust" between large and small countries.
Concentrating power in the hands of an intergovernmental "Cabinet" would "undermine accountability and effectiveness" in the union, "damage the community method" of decision-making and "contribute to institutional fragmentation," the commission said.
"Increasing the number of presidents and vice presidents and setting up a 'bureau' can only bring confusion. Duplication of bureaucracies goes against common sense and against indications coming from all sides. Instead, our aim should be to simplify executive powers, not to allow them to proliferate."
European parliamentarians also hit out at the proposals, with Green group leader Monica Frassoni describing them as a "slap in the face for European democracy."
A spokesman for Giscard d'Estaing rejected accusations that the bureau would be an EU government-in-disguise.
"The office would not have decision making powers, it would coordinate the activities," Nikolaus Meyer-Landrut said, arguing that the president would be more like a "chairman of the board."
The 105 parliamentarians and government representatives who make up the "Convention on the Future of Europe" are due to discuss the proposals Thursday and Friday.