Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-07-07-Speech-1-199"
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"en.20080707.21.1-199"2
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"Mr President, I should especially like to thank Mr Corbett for preparing these reports. It was clear from the outset not only that agreement would be reached on this subject but also that the subject would be hotly debated. However, we must note that this Parliament has grown from 626 to 785 Members and, should the new Treaty come into force, the figure will very likely be 751. Obviously we shall have to adapt the rules by which we work.
We have a Working Party on Parliamentary Reform, which is addressing many areas in which Parliament must move forward, and cannot remain standing still as was the case many years ago. The status quo is always the easiest option. Defending the
means not having to modernise or change, but in this case it is obvious that the matter of the size of the political groups in Parliament must now be dealt with.
Mr Corbett has already said that we have one of the lowest thresholds compared to the national parliaments of the world. That could be an aim – why not? Alternatively, like Mr Szájer, one could say: ‘It seems to me that we need more coherence in this Parliament. We are no longer an advisory assembly; we are now a legislative body. We make laws for 500 million people, and a certain degree of coherence is needed to do that.’
Therefore, I would wish for truly political groups in this Parliament and not just technical groups – groups that get together only because of the money and do not really have anything in common politically. The proposal that was on the table of moving from 20 to 30 would still have been moderate and not at all excessive. Well, it did not make it past the committee stage, and one has to be willing to make compromises. Even though the latest suggestion is 25, that is still progress and the smallest acceptable next step.
We have 10 political families registered – from the far right to the far left. At the next European elections, citizens will have a broad selection of political families to choose from in order to say what kind of Europe they want. Therefore, I have no doubts about undertaking this reform. The diversity of this Parliament will be retained, but perhaps we shall contribute a little to improving its coherence, and that is the point of the exercise. Thank you, therefore, to Mr Corbett."@en1
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