Cypriot MEPs call for increased legislative powers for the EP

The development of the European Union makes it imperative that the European Parliament be given the real legislative role it befits it, Cyprus‘ Euro MPs note in an interview with CNA on the occasion of the 50 years since the signing of the Treaties of Rome.

They stress that such strengthening of the legislative role of the EP will make it synonym with the reinforcement of the EU.

In their statements, the Cypriot Euro MEPs also note that despite its small size and equally small representation at the EP, they have managed, with their activities and participation in discussions on European matters to have a voice and make their presence felt in the European community.

At the same time, they underline that the climate as far as the Cyprus problem is concerned, is positive but many more efforts are required to keep it alive.

Adamos Adamou of left wing AKEL party, sitting with the European United Left/Nordic Green Left group, invited to comment on the course of the European parliament in the last 50 years said the EP is an institution which unites into a community a number of nations. As the years went by, coupled with the conventions, is now a powerful legislative instrument which, on a number of occasions, together with the European Commission and the Council, determine the legal framework of member states.

This, said Adamou, resulted with the gradual widening of the community’s prestige but at the same time, it has been doubted on a political level.

The European Parliament has contributed in abolishing economic frontiers, has given a chance to European citizens to live, work, learn and move freely within the community. Citizens can obtain the EU citizenship without losing their national identity. On the contrary, he added, they gain important rights, i.e to move freely within the EU, have the right to vote or be voted during municipal or European elections and the right to resort to EU institutions.

Adamou stressed that the Economic and Monetary union is on a common course and most member states have the right to look towards a wider economic alliance by becoming members of the Eurozone.

The Cypriot MEP said the EP is also interested in environmental issues, with significant achievements on pollution issues, protection of the fauna of member states as well as biodiversity. In the health field, Adamou said, member states act collectively in common efforts to lift the imbalance among member states.

Asked about Cyprus‘s role, Adamou said that the MEPs were faced with challenge of entering an area which was already set up by the time they acceded.

He said that they have managed to become fully active in all issues under their jurisdiction, actively participating in EP matters.

”Even if they are small in number, the Cypriot MEPs have managed to raise their voice and make their presence felt,” he added.

”Cyprus‘ future in the EP can only be promising as experience and tine constitute the main elements in the continued development of the activity of the Cypriot MEPs,” he said.

His colleague Kyriacos Triantaphyllides when asked which he thinks are the Parliament’s greatest achievements said that apart from the date when the EP was founded, there are three other significant dates in the history of the EP. The first in 1979 when for the first time direct elections took place, bridging the democratic gap which existed. The second was July 2004 when the EP welcomed MEPs from ten new EU member states, and the third was the 1st January 2007 when the Parliament welcomed the MEPs from Bulgaria and Romania. ”Now we have 785 new members, whereas in 1979 there were only 434 members for nine member states,” he added.

On the other hand, he said ”politically the EP is undertaking all the more legislative responsibilities which in the past the EU Council was dealing with.” However, he said, there are issues where the Parliament does not have legislative validity, that is in the fields of agriculture, taxation, competition, Industrial Policy and the areas of freedom, security and justice.

”Therefore in future reforms special emphasis should be given on these issues to cover the democratic absence which exists since Euro MPs are the sole elected representatives of European citizens,” he added.

He expressed hope that there will be an official dialogue to review the Nice Treaty and that the important thing is for the Parliament to increase further more its legislative capabilities.

Triantaphyllides also told CNA that his vision for the European Parliament is that it achieves a social profile and take into account the concerns of European citizens, something which is reflected in referendums.

Asked how he sees Cyprus‘ role in the European Parliament in the future, Triantaphyllides said that now and in the future, our role should be extremely positive.

”We are only six MEPs, while Germany has 99 MEPs. The occupation and intransigence of our neighbouring country (Turkey) gives us strength to complete our work. All of us, through our political spectrum, have managed to create a positive climate for our country which allows us to actively participate in the Parliament’s work,” he said.

However, he added, there are countries such as Great Britain and other countries which always raise their voices, but these voices are covered by our hard work in Brussels and Strasbourg.

Asked about achievements of the European Parliament, Democratic Rally Euro MP Panagiotis Demetriou and Member of the European Parliament for the European People’s Party said the Parliament represents on a national level, European citizens in the EU.

Noting that despite its restricted legislative authority, it acts as a political catalyst in formulating policies and institutions, he said ”the EP is not a legislator, like at national parliaments, since it can only legislate on a small range of issues.”

”It is for this reason that there is talk about lack of democracy and lack of associating the citizen and the Union,” the Cypriot MEP said.

Demetriou said that the strengthening of the EP’s role ”is identical with the strengthening of the Union.” The European Convention, he added, which effectively strengthens the EP, unfortunately has been put on hold.

However, the European Parliament undertakes initiatives and adopts positions which affect the political climate in which the Council and Commission work in. Demetriou underlined the frequent phenomenon of the EP’s positions being rejected by the Council, something which undermines the institution itself. This situation has to stop and the only way to do this is the constitutional reorganisation of the EU, he added.

As far as Cyprus‘s role is concerned, Demetriou said that the island is one of the smallest EU countries but it has a balanced say and role with the rest of the EU states at all institutions, including the EP.

The island’s presence is being marked by the serious and responsible action of its Euro MPs. The prestige of small Cyprus at the Euro Parliament now and in the future is reflected in the good name of its MEPs, he added.

Demetriou turned the question around on Cyprus, saying that ”we should ask which is the Euro Parliament’s role in solving the Cyprus problem”. And because the EP’s role has been positive on the issue of Cyprus, efforts should be made to maintain this good climate, he concluded.

His colleague from the same party, Ioannis Kasoulides said the EP has a history of continued but slow upgrading which reflects the feelings of the people that they should be more involved in the legislative and political action of the EU.

”The wider the EU’s jurisdiction is, the more directly it will affect the European citizen, and therefore the role which the EP will be asked to play will become more important,” he said.

Kasoulides repeated that the legislative action of the EP must be widened, adding that it also exercises political monitoring of the work of the Commission and the Council which are far from reflecting transparency.

The Cypriot MEP said the most important achievements of the EP are directly related with the above, that is, fighting corruption, has helped to upgrade the role of the EU’s Auditor Council, has legislated for the creation of Ombudsmen and has guaranteed the right of every citizen, irrespective of who he is, to submit reports on issues which affect him/her.

”Its main achievements concern its role as a citizen in heart of the EU,” he said, adding that efforts should be made to continue and upgrade its political and legislative role, especially on issues which concern foreign policy.

To a question on Cyprus, Kasoulides said with only six votes, Cyprus cannot have the weight what one would have liked. ”For this reason, it is very important to maintain a stance which signals respect and show our partners that our view is always calculated and based on facts,” he noted.

The Cypriot MEPs, he added, are making these efforts and show great interest on issues which do not directly affect Cyprus.

Cyprus, he said, needs to develop its own views and planning on other issues to create a closer relation with other countries. For instance, he said, Cyprus is cooperating with French MEPs on common agricultural policy matters, while with the Mediterranean countries it is working on issues concerning fisheries and maritime while with the Germans it is working on issues concerning the Economy and the Middle East.

This, he said, creates trust and a climate of cooperation, noting that this method should be extended to other EU institutions so that to upgrade the Cyprus House of Representatives relations with the EP.

Yiannakis Matsis, Member of the European Parliament for the European People’s Party told CNA that the role of the EP is of secondary significance compared to the Commission and the Council.

In the following years, and ”due to the legislative changes that occur within or outside the EU, the EP must achieve increased legislative authorities on a level of co-deciding on all issues. The EU’s development makes it imperative to grant the EP a real, legislative role,” he said.

Asked how he sees Cyprus‘ role in the EU, Matsis said the action within the EP is not necessarily related to the numerical representation of member states but with their abilities to unlock the various doors of interest and serve the common European interests as well as their national interests. ”Therefore Cyprus can be a small state but in various fields, such as maritime and tourism, it can have a decisive role in shaping decisions,” he added.

Matsis said that hard work is necessary as well as an in depth understanding on how the united Europe works. ”Therefore Cyprus, at the EP and in the EU at large, if it makes use of the various factors such as communication policy and making use of think tanks, can set the foundations to play an active and productive role,” he noted.

Marios Matsakis, Member of the European Parliament for the Democratic Party who sits with the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe group said the ”EP has been assuming more legislative powers through the years and it has become an important determinant of trans-European affairs which increasingly affect the every day life of EU-citizens.”

Important achievements he said, include the EP’s involvement in minimisation of inter EU-border controls and customs interventions, the promotion of less obstacles to a free internal market and the EP’s help in establishing a Common monetary system (and the adoption of the Euro by many EU-member states).

Achievements that he would like to see attained include the acceptance of a common language of communication for use by the EP, the inclusion in the legislative jurisdiction of the EP of Health Care, the establishment of one seat for the EP (presently there are two, Brussels and Strasburg) the reduction in EP procedure bureaucracy and the adoption of a Treaty amendment to make possible having a common EU Foreign Affairs and security Policy.

Regards Cyprus‘ role, Matsakis said it is ”miniscule in size and consequent representation in the EP but, is of much importance because of its Geo-strategic geographical location and its national problem which is related to its demographic ethnic make-up and its vicinity to Islamic Turkey.”

He said that in essence, Cyprus is very important to the EP and the EU in general as it is located at the cross-roads of 3 continents and it is the bordering post to the middle-East. In addition, Cyprus is the test tube in which the experiment of whether Christianity and Islam can live in co-existence is carried out. If this works in Cyprus, then it can work in all EU (where Turkey is planned to accede in a few years time).

”With regards to Turkey’s accession, Cyprus will continue to play a vital role in the day to day practical work of the EP relating to this prospect,” Matsakis said,

Another area where Cyprus may be the cause for altering, for the better, EP and EU policies, is with regards to issues relating to freedom of post-colonial Overseas Territories still under the sovereignty of EU member states, namely Britain and France. This is because such sites are located in Cyprus (British Sovereign Bases) and many irregularities exist in these areas with regards to their civilian population, eg.violation of EU citizens Human Rights. Such problems will have to be sorted out sooner or later by the EP, he concluded.