EU Commission vice-President Sefcovic to EuroFora: Citizens Initiative to revitalize Decision making
*Strasbourg/EU Parliament/Angelo Marcopolo/- Particularly after EU Parliament adopted, today, a brand new procedure for Public Hearings by the competent Committees on EU Citizens' Initiatives, the recent entry into force of this big innovation of EU Lisbon Treaty could bring Changes able to revitalize the EU Decision making process, replied in substance EU Commission's vice-President Sefcovic to "EuroFora's questions, welcoming the move, during and after a Press Conference organized by the prestigious French High-level Civil Servants' School of State and EU Governance "ENA", together with Strasbourg University and the German Federal School on Administrative Science from nearby Karlsrhue, gathered together in a grouping for "Public Administration in Europe" (PEAP), headed by the experienced long-time Manager of several Key, Big Public and Private Entities, Dr. Weber, invited in EU Parliament by mainstream ChristianDemocrat/EPP MEP Santiago Fisas Ayxelo.
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- "EuroFora" observed that, "by a coincidence, today EU Parliament has just adopted an Essential Innovation in the New EU Mechanism of EU "Citizens' Initiative, as agreed with EU Commission, consisting in a possibility to add also a Public Hearing", of representatives of the People involved, "by an EU Parliament's Committee", as it had been initially suggested by "EuroFora", particularly in an INTW with EU Rapporteur on Citizens' Rights, former Minister and current Budgets Commitee's Chairman, French ChristianDemocrat/EPP MEP, Alain Lamassoure, and already discussed earlier with EU Commission's vice-President Maros Sefcovic himself (Comp, f.ex., our Questions and Replies received at a previous, key Press Conference : See : therelevant "EuroFora"s NewsReport : ... ). + -"Do you think that it would be useful if Top European Governance Education bodies or Universities, as f.ex. the ENA, etc. were associated, in one way or another, to these new type of Hearings, which are due to become more and more Frequent, and eventually to hold most of them during EU Parliament's Plenary sesssions in Strasbourg ?", we suggested in addition..
- "Thank you for that Question, because EU Citizens Initiatives are something New which, I believe, can bring a Civic mobilization , but also Democratic movements, while we see, around us, also what can be done by mobilizing Citizens f.ex. through Social Media and can be actively motivated by the issues of Internet Liberty", started to reply to "EuroFora"s question Sefcovic, from a wider point of view.
=> "I think that all that is a proof that EU Citizens should be included in the Debates of Important Political Decisions from the start of Negotiations, as well as that we (EU) must better Explain our Policies, not only by the classical means, but also by using f.ex. Social Media (at the Internet), etc", EU Commission's vice-President went on to add, almost endorsing a main Idea suggested many times earlier by "EuroFora".
+ "That's why I believe that EU Citizens' Initiative will Democratize the traditional way of Decision-making in Europe, and that New Level of Participative Democracy will ameliorate the way that the Representative Democracy works", he optimistically pointed out.
=> "I'm sure that, when we shall revise this new tool, in 2 or 3 Years, we shall need some Serious Studies, with profound Expertise on this issue, that f.ex. ENA, the Universites and other participants in the PEAP, as well as several other similar actors, will certainly have studied carefully", having a very useful role to play, Sefcovic positively reacted to a part of "EuroFora"s suggestion (Comp. supra).
For the time being, "as you know, we (EU Commission) have already registed 6 or 7 such EU Citizens' Initiatives, up to now, and we have received more than 10. So, this has really started, and we shall see how it will evolve during the following years", he noted.
+ Meanwhile, "I am glad of the Agreement that we (EU Commission) made with EU Parliament on these Hearings by MEPs, because, even if the competent EU Commissioner, or his assistants, will Receive beforehand the organizers of such EU Citizens' Initiatives, nevertheless, it is important that they can be heard also by a collective, politically pluralist body destinated to work regularly with EU Citizens as the EU Parliament, observed later-on EU Commission's vice-President Sefcovic, speaking anew to "EuroFora" after the Press Conference.
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- The Questions raised are, in susbtance, whether the way that EU Citizens' Initiatives might develop in Future, could affect the way that European Governance and public administrations, Civil Servants, etc., are actually working, observed earlier on "EuroFora"s question also PEAP's President Dr. Weber, who underlined previously the relevant fact that PEAP's object of study and research is "the Public Administration which works at the interface between Political Decisions and Citizens".
+ Meanwhile, it's significant of progressively developing EU Integration that even ENA itself is evolving into a MultiNational, European Governance School, with French, German, Spanish and other EU Countries components, observed mainstream MEP Ayxelo of Spain.
(NDLR : "DraftNews", as already sent earlier to "EuroFora"s Subscribers/Donors. A more accurate, full Final Version is due asap).
***
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Scientific innovation joined to Faith for Human Rights, Eastern Partnership and fight against the Crisis, but above all, the need to overcome the "Crisis of Trust" from EU Citizens, are the main priorities for new EU Parliament's President, Polish Jerzy Buzek, that a 555-votes-strong majority of MEPs on July 14, Strasbourg made a living symbol of the fact that, 20 years after the fall of Berlin Wall (1989 - 2009) there is no more an Eastern or Western Europe, but only one Europe, as the head of the largest group of MEPs, ChristianDemocrats/EPP, Joseph Daul, stressed after the event.
Speaking later to a group of Strasbourg's Journalists, including "EuroFora", the new EU Parliament's President clarified his stance on concrete topical issues, as f.ex. that of Turkey's controversial EU bid, which was one of the main issues of the June 2009 Electoral campain, clearly won by his party of ChristianDemocrats/EPP : - "At present, Turkey does not fullfil none of EU conditions", he stressed, (See infra).
Buzek is well known in Strasbourg and to "EuroFora" as EU Rapporteur for the Framework Program of Scientific Research and Development of Technologies. A Natural Science Professor from the Historic and Religious landmark Polish City of Częstochowa, active in the famous Solidarnosk grass-roots social movement, he served 4 years as Prime Minister (1997-2001), before being elected as MEP in 2004 and 2009, after he brillantly won the latest EU Election at the head of his party (EPP) almost doubling the number of its MEPs from 15 to 28 !
- "Innovation" and "Energy safety", as well as fight against the "Cimat change", but also "Eastern Partnership", the "Mediterranean", "Strategic partnerships" with Russia, the USA, etc, and the search for "solutions to the Economic Crisis" that EU Citizens "expect" from us, will be his "priorities", announced from the outset the new EU Parliament's President, reminding also that the quest for "Human and Civic Rights" played an important role in his experience with the Solidarnosc grass-roots social movement in Poland's History
But, the most important of all, is the urgent need to overcome the "Crisis of Trust" between EU Institutions and the People he stressed : - EU "Citizens often don't understand us", denounced Buzek, launcing a call to "do anything for EU Citizens to understand our work" in EU Parliament : "We (MEPs) need to make EU Citizens involved" in "what we are doing every week, in Strasbourg and Brussels", he proposed. Pointing f.ex. to the hot "Debates" with "strong arguments" exchanged between MEPs during the preparation of their Legislative Decisions, in Committees, delivering often hard struggles between initially opposed points of view, long before forging a majority at the final vote, sometimes more than a year..
Therefore, EU Parliament will be "open to your criticism, for discussion and exchange of views", he promissed to Journalists in Strasbourg.
In this way, Buzek, in fact, highlighted "EuroFora"s main idea, that we strongly advocate since 1997-2007, to systematicaly and actively involve EU Citizens in public debates during the decision-making process of important EU measures, which affect their lives and the society in which they live, (and not only just a few weeks each 4 or 5 Years at the eve of EU Elections)...
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This is related also to the symbolic gift that Buzek chose to give to the out-going former EU Parliament's President, Hans Gert Poettering, (2007-2009), his collegue in the ChristianDemocrats/EPP, who brillantly won 2009 EU Elections in Germany : A genuine statute of sainte Barbara crafted in Silesia's black Coal by Polish Miners : Those simple but strong people who fought for social change against some technocrats and bureaucrats disguissed into so-called "real-socialists" of old times. (PHOTO).
It's enough to have seen a popular open air mass, at Warsaw's center, with many thousands of people, old and young, simple workers and intellectuals mixed together, with references to Poland's history and struggles for survival and liberty, through various ages, (as fex. that organized at the eve of CoE's 2005 panEuropean Heads of State and Government for the beatification of late Pope John-Paul II), in order to understand what such symbols mean..
But, overcoming the "Crisis of Trust" with EU Citizens obviously implies also to rectify any errors done in the past, fex. on Turkey's controversial EU bid, with controversial decisions taken in 1999 and 2004 to give a "candidate" status and to start EU negotiations, provoking an unprecedented series of 3 "No" to EuroReferenda and 3 Majoriy Abstentions in EU Parliament Elections : 1999, 2005 and 2009, (even if the latest one succeeded to decelerate and almost stop the drop of participation rates, opening hopes for vote's revival after an electoral campaign clearly critical to Turkey's claims in several mainstream EU countries)
Therefore, Buzek was faced with manifold critical Questions on EU Enlargement, most of them citting concrete examples of certain political problems : But his replies were almost always given as a matter of general principle :
F.ex. Questioned on the suspension of EU - Croatia talks because of a Border conflict with EU Member Slovenia, Buzek prefered to speak about principles :
- "We know that during Enlargement, the process can be blocked by failure to resolve this kind of issues", This concerns also other enlargments' cases", and "these rules are always in force" he warned.
But Buzek avoided to directly reply to a queston on "French and German EPP' calls to define the Borders of Europe", as a German journalist asked him by making a reference to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, and German Chancellor Angie Merkel's, critical statements on Turkey at the June 2009 Electoral campain.
- "Concerning Enlargement, there's always the same rules : There have to be Criteria, which have to be respected if a Country wants to join the EU", he started to simply reply.
- "For my country (Poland) it took us 15 Years to fullfil these Criteria", Buzek reminded, indicating, if proportions are kept, that Turkey, fex. would have to spend some 25 years before eventually joining the EU..
- "Countries wishing to join the EU need to Change their Systems", as we (Poland and other former Eastern European Countries) did, he stressed.
- "'For me, meeting the condition of Human Rights is one of the Key conditions for membership in the EU", preferring again to speak from the point of view of General Principles, on the occasion of an untimely question on Serbia (which is not even a candidate yet)...
- "Turkey" has, "first of all", to fullfil (EU) Copenhagen criteria". Bevause, currently, none of them is fullfiled by Turkey", New EU Parliament's President, denounced, speaking later to a group of Journalists, including "EuroFora".
In particular, on Human Rights : - "We (EU) can never forget Human Rights", because "this is at the very Foundations of the EU", Buzek added.
On the contrary, when he referred to EU Enlargment for the "Western Balkans Countries ", Buzek appeared upbeat, finding "promising situations", despite "difficulties" in the Past, since "Countries are queuing to become EU members", and this "generated changes", as he said.
As for Russia, Buzek observed that it was a "very important" country, located "in the same Continent", Europe, "close to our borders", and "we need eachother". "But Russia' has 'differend poblems : "They claim that their system is Democratic, but rules are differend", and we must be "aware of such differencies", fex. "on Human Rights", that we can't ignore, as he said;
Concerning China, where a journalist observed that the recipient of EU Parliament's latest "Sakharov prize" for freedom of thought is "still in prison", Buzek found that since the 1999 events in Tien Amin square, "we see differencies on Human Rights still today", and expressed his "support" for those who try to ameliorate the situation.
On the contrary, speaking recently to "EuroFora" he strongly supported the idea for an EU - Ukraine cooperation, fex. between Airbus and Antonov, in order to build a less costly but more performant than the old and problematic A400M, new Military Transport Airplane : - "They (Ukranian Antonov Company) can certainly do it. I'm sure they can. It's a good Idea, and I'd be glad if it was done", he told us. (See : http://www.eurofora.net/newsflashes/news/airbusantonov.html )
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