Paris flies kite for EU reforms

The upper chamber of the French parliament, the Senate, yesterday published proposals to reform the institutions of the European Union to make them more democratic and accountable. One recommendation is the creation of an upper chamber of the European Parliament that would comprise members of the home parliaments and regulate the Parliament.

A second proposal is for the appointment by each EU country of a representative to the Parliament, who would have the status of a cabinet minister at home. At present, each member has an ambassador to the EU, which is a diplomatic, not a political, post. The idea is that the representative would have full authority to represent the views of the home government.

A further proposal is that the EU presidency, which rotates on a six- monthly basis among all members, should consist of a troika composed of one representative from the larger countries, and two from the smaller countries. A distinction between the big and small countries is a theme of the report, which says an expanded EU - the committee regards expansion as inevitable - would not function properly if big and small countries were treated the same.

The proposals, drafted by a 36-member Senate committee, form part of France's preparations for the Inter-Govern mental Conference in 1996, which is to discuss the future of EU institutions after Maastricht.

The recommendations reflect concerns similar to those in Britain. How much real power will national parliaments really have after Maastricht, if a single currency is introduced as planned in 1997? How much sovereignty will EU countries have? And, how can the EU institutions, particularly its Parliament and Council of Ministers, be made more accountable to the home electorates?

The Senate report is the second parliamentary report on EU institutions to appear in preparation for the conference. The National Assembly, the lower house, published the report of its EU affairs committee last week: "What reforms for the Europe of tomorrow?"

This proposed a European Council composed of heads of government that would meet to discuss different areas of policy. States that opted out of a policy, for instance from a single currency, would not be represented on the council dealing with that policy. All members would meet on matters of general concern.

The report recommended that the European Commission, which reports only to the Parliament, should report also to the European Council, making it accountable both to European members of parliament and to individual EU member governments.

The proposals indicate that France could well oppose the delegation of any more power to the European Parliament or to the European Commission.