|
|
NICE IS NASTY The National Forum on Europe |
 |
| IN JANUARY in submission to the Irish National Forum
on Europe, Mr Eamon Gallagher and Dr, John Temple Lane
made the following points: (a)We support the European Union and its enlargement to include ten more countries - but we do not accept, in ref. to Article 4 of the Protocol of enlargement, that there is any justification for making the institutional balance of the Union a victim of this enlargement. i.e. that when the Union arrives at 27 Member States that "the number of members of the Commission shall be less than the number of Member States."(The Nice Treaty) (b)Reducing these numbers was not part of the earlier understanding in the Treaty of Amsterdam and no information is given in the Nice Treaty as to what figure less than 27 is in mind for the eventual size of the Commission. (c)The Nice Treaty guarantees each Member State the right to nominate a judge to the European Court of Justice but removes the right of representation for each in regard to the Commission. (d)The Commission was set up as an Institution independent of national Governments. It is not a secretariat. Neither is it simply an executive, although it has decision making functions. The powers entrusted to it are necessary to safeguard the general interest, to ensure that minority interests are fairly considered and to preclude domination of the Community by the major Member States. (e)This is the essential character of the European Community, a unique arrangement between independent States. Four decades of experience have shown its value. A proposal was then stated: "It is not our
desire to see enlargement delayed. We suggest therefore
that Article 4 should be placed on the Agenda of the
Convention on the Future of Europe for early examination." Mr. Eamon Gallagher: former Director
General of the European Commission and EEC Ambassador to
the United Nations |