Vol. 408 No. 7
47 Mr. Barry asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if the Government have submitted a paper to the Intergovernmental Conference on European Union on the future role of the European Parliament and, if so, if he will outline the recommendations contained in the submission.
The Government have not submitted any paper to the conference on this matter. However, we have clearly expressed our views in the conference as to how existing procedures can be enhanced to allow the European Parliament to play a more effective role in the Community's decision making process.
We already know of the very strong views held by the Parliament about what it feels its role should be and what it wishes to see from the Intergovernmental Conference on Political Union. Some member states are able to support almost everything the Parliament is looking for whilst others are more reserved. For our part, we will look carefully at the demands of Parliament and see what improvements can be made to existing procedures. We will also wish to take account of the need to preserve the balance and efficiency in the operation of the Community Institutions as we seek to ensure the democratic legitimacy of the Community and its democratic accountability.
In relation to the specific issue of co-decision, I have already outlined to the House on previous occasions that we have some reservations about the procedure as proposed by some member states and the Parliament. We believe that the role of the Commission in the legislative process must be maintained, including its sole right to make proposals and its capacity to amend proposals at any stage in the process.
We do believe however that there has to be a genuine increase in the capacity of Parliament to make a substantial contribution to the legislative process. For example, this could include giving greater attention in the Council to the first opinion of the Parliament. We could also envisage the establishment of an effective and more extensive conciliation procedure in which all three Community institutions could meet to resolve outstanding difficulties on draft legislation.
