91996E2776

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2776/96 by Georges Berthu (I-EDN) to the Council (17 October 1996)

Subject: IGC: the role of the national parliaments

During the statement which he made to the European Parliament's Committee on Institutional Affairs on 25 September 1996 Mr Gay Mitchell, Irish Foreign Minister and President-in-Office of the Council, maintained that the role of the national parliaments should be restricted to that which they traditionally played at national level, and that this issue clearly remained within the bounds of the constitutional law of the individual Member States.

Would the Presidency not agree, however, that the extension of qualified majority voting under the first pillar, which was also referred to during the above statement, will prevent the parliaments of Member States which find themselves in a minority opposed to any given measure from playing any role whatsoever? Might this not be seen as one of the causes of the current feeling of unease and, should this way of thinking prevail, might it not lead to an increase in the democratic deficit? Does the Presidency intend to put an end to this unhealthy trend by proposing at the IGC that the national parliaments be given a direct right of veto in European decision-making procedures?

Joint answer to Written Questions 2765/96, 2766/96, 2767/96, 2769/96, 2770/96, 2771/96, 2772/96, 2773/96, 2774/96, 2775/96 and 2776/96 (30 January 1997)

The Council cannot comment on the various proposals under discussion in the Intergovernmental Conference.