92002E0774

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0774/02

by Charles Tannock (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(18 March 2002)

Subject: The Return of Powers from the Commission to the Member States

At the opening of the Constitutional Convention on 28 February, Commission President Prodi said that the Commission had to be prepared to return powers to the Member States. Which specific competences does the Commission think should be returned, and will the Commission's proposals in this area be relayed through Commissioners Barnier and Vitorino at the Convention or by the Commission President or his spokesman?

Answer given by Mr Prodi on behalf of the Commission

(6 May 2002)

The Commission President gave his address at the inaugural meeting of the Convention and it should be viewed in that political context. The members of the Convention are being asked to reflect together

on the future of the European project. The Union must review its main functions and define the scope of its activities more rigorously. In this context, all the institutions must consider the best way of performing their activities. The Commission is prepared to re-examine its own functions if this is necessary for the European project to succeed. It follows from this that in his address to the Convention the President of the Commission was not referring to any specific tasks currently performed by his institution but rather to a political state of mind. The Commission does not, of course, intend to abandon its fundamental role, which is that of an independent institution upholding the general interest. Once it has defined its position on the future of the Union's institutional structure, it will be up to its representatives in the Convention to inform the latter accordingly.