A good thing” “

After the accession of the ten new States, the June elections will pose “a democratic challenge to the European Union”. “The majority of citizens are convinced that the peace and prosperity brought by integration are a good thing”, yet “their rate of participation in the democratic process is constantly decreasing” with “ill-fated effects on the legitimacy of the European institutions”. NOËL TREANOR, general secretary of the Commission of the Episcopates of the European Community (COMECE) and director of “Europe infos”, monthly bulletin of COMECE, and of the Catholic Office of Information and Initiative for Europe (OCIPE), together with editor in chief JAN KERKHOFS , comment on the main problems and prospects of the enlarged Union in the May number of the bulletin. CHALLENGES AND NEW HORIZONS. “The heads of state and of government will have to iron out their differences on the distribution of powers within the enlarged Union and on the possible reference to the Christian inheritance in the preamble”, points out Treanor with regard to the constitutional treaty. “If they succeed in doing so, the Constitution will then have to pass through a challenging process of ratification. 8 of the 25 countries have announced referendums. The Constitution is a long and complex document – says the editorial -; to subject it to a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ is no simple matter and the possibilities of misinterpretation of the text are numerous”. Nonetheless, “it is the responsibility of everyone to ensure that citizens understand the meaning of this document”. A further challenge is represented by the prospect of future enlargements to Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia, and also by the decision that “the Union will have to take by the end of the year on whether or not to start membership negotiations with Turkey”. There is also the problem of “our Eastern neighbours”, i.e. “what type of relations with the Union can Belarus, Moldavia, Russia and Ukraine expect”. For Treanor and Kerkhofs, moreover, “the questions of relations with the other regions of the world, in particular Africa and the USA, are fundamental for the identity and mission of the EU”. MEPs OF HIGH CALIBRE. Some 350 million Europeans are called to vote in the elections due to be held from 10 to 13 June, “but too few will bother to go to the ballot box”. Convinced of this is JOHN COUGHLAN, of the COMECE press office, who points out that the rate of participation of 63% in the first elections to the European Parliament by direct suffrage in 1979 has progressively declined to touch 49% in the last elections in 1999. In Coughlan’s view, electors are conscious that to solve the main problems of each member state “the elected European members of parliament can do nothing”. A further cause for disaffection is “the recent adoption of resolutions such as that on sexual rights, women and fundamentalism”, that “did not give the impression of a responsible legislature”. However, says Coughlan, “if the political groups do not play the decisive roles of the national parliaments, the individual MEPs count for a good deal more”. On every legislative text proposed by the Commission, the Parliament must express its own view together with the Council of Ministers. “A European member of parliament is designated as rapporteur with the task of proposing amendments, and negotiating with the institutions and with the various interest groups. The role played by rapporteurs in the formulation of recent draft legislation is crucial” and since almost three quarters of the new laws of the countries of the Union originate in Brussels, an MEP belonging to a powerful parliamentary committee has far more influence on our daily life than a national MP”. Hence the importance of “electing persons of high calibre to the European Parliament. But their identification requires electors who take an interest in the candidates and have the intention of casting their vote”. THE NEW MEMBER STATES. The European vote also represents “the first major challenge” for the new member states. The point is made by ALEKSANDRA HEBNA, who remarks that it is the conservative and communist parties that are conducting the electoral campaign in the Czech Republic (which will have 24 seats in the EP). In Poland, on the other hand, which will have 54 seats, “the conservatives and an agrarian populist coalition, supported by the widespread conviction of the need to defend national interests in Europe, seem to be in the lead”. The Polish “Robert Schuman” Foundation, reports Hebna, “has proposed a campaign aimed at encouraging people to vote not for the traditional politicians, but for simple citizens or independent personalities”. In the Czech Republic, “60% of electors have declared that they wish to support an independent candidate; it’s an occasion to change the image of a Parliament” called to “represent 450 million citizens”. “It won’t be simple to work together – concludes Hebna -: translations alone will require 570 different language combinations to ensure that everyone understands and is understood”.