Europese Groene Partij steunt Europese Grondwet
18 februari 2005
De Europese Groene Partij roept burgers en parlementariërs op om vóór de
Europese Grondwet te stemmen. Dat heeft de Raad van de EGP, waarin 32 groene
partijen uit heel Europa vertegenwoordigd zijn, donderdag 17 februari
besloten.
De Europese Groenen namen met grote meerderheid - 51 stemmen voor, 7
stemmen tegen, geen onthoudingen - een resolutie aan die de Europese
Grondwet kenschetst als "een belangrijke verbetering ten opzichte van
de bestaande verdragen, met name wat betreft de uitbreiding van de
supranationale parlementaire democratie en de verankering van de
doelstellingen duurzame ontwikkeling, solidariteit en volledige
werkgelegenheid".
Korter
De Europese Groenen zijn wel van mening dat de EU-Grondwet veel korter
had gekund. Zij betreuren de opname van allerlei uitvoeringsbepalingen
in het lijvige derde deel. Ook bekritiseren zij het feit dat voor
sommige besluiten, waaronder toekomstige wijzigingen van de Grondwet,
nog steeds de instemming van alle nationale regeringen vereist is.
Een kritisch ja
Het `ja' van de Europese Groenen is dan ook een kritisch ja. De
Grondwet is niet het eindstadium van de Europese integratie. Daarom
start de Europese Groene partij, op voorstel van de Groene fractie in
het Europees Parlement, een burgerinitiatief voor verbetering van de
Grondwet.
Burgerinitiatief
Het burgerinitiatief, geïntroduceerd door de Europese Grondwet, is een
nieuw instrument om de Europese politiek te beïnvloeden. Het geeft
burgers en hun organisaties de mogelijkheid om een voorstel op de
agenda van de Europese instellingen te plaatsen, mits zij voor dat
voorstel minstens één miljoen handtekeningen verzamelen.
Verder
De Europese Groene Partij zal een voorstel formuleren om de Europese
democratie verder uit te breiden, sociale zekerheid en
rechtvaardigheid te versterken en de Unie beter toe te rusten voor een
vreedzame rol op het wereldtoneel. De Groenen willen de benodigde
handtekeningen voor dit `Eerste Amendement' verzameld hebben op de dag
dat de Grondwet in werking treedt.
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Hier de tekst van de - ook door GroenLinks gesteunde - resolutie
Resolution of the European Green Party on the EU Constitutional Treaty
a. In light of the European Green Party's guidelines for the
development of the European Union on a democratic and federal basis,
linking people and nations;
b. Recalling that European integration is a democratic event and a
factor in peace and social development unique in history, and that
this integration can be an example for the construction of democratic
mechanisms at a global level;
c. Stressing the active participation of ecologists in the work of the
European Convention and their proposals for a deepening of democracy
and of the competencies of the Union in the fields of social, tax,
energy and foreign policy to contribute to sustainable development and
solidarity between citizens;
d. Taking note of the work of the Convention and the Intergovernmental
Conference which finally decided on the draft treaty establishing a
Constitution for Europe (TCE);
e. Being aware that new political will-power must be asserted in order
to make the enlargement of the Union a success, so that the values and
basic rights of citizens are effectively promoted, strengthened and
defended within the Union and in the world;
f. Criticizing the very limited progress in improving decision-making
in the field of economic and social policy;
g. Recalling its call for a European referendum, alone likely to
properly contribute to a transnational debate and, failing this, its
support for popular consultations organised at a national level;
h. Recalling the fact that the process of European integration is not
yet complete and that further reforms will be necessary to ensure the
full democratisation of EU institutions, internal cohesion and a
smooth integration of new member states;
i. Acknowledging the concerns of some member parties with regard to
deficiencies of the constitution which lead them to campaigning
against its ratification;
the Council of the European Green Party:
1. Taking the text of the draft treaty that was decided upon
unanimously by the heads of government and state of the 25 Member
States;
2. Supports the Green Group's resolution and accordingly:
- considers that this TCE makes significant improvements in relation
to the existing treaties which it would replace, in particular
regarding the extension of supranational parliamentary democracy and
the consolidation of the aims of sustainable development, social
solidarity and full employment;
- strongly regrets the presence of the chapters concerning the
policies of the Union, inserted in Part III of the project, and the
maintenance of the unanimity rule in crucial political fields and the
procedures to amend the Treaties;
- underlines however that this draft treaty represents a more
effective framework for policy work at a European level than the
treaties in force, and stresses that it is now up to the political and
social forces to lay down concrete policy guidelines that can be
modified according to the majorities resulting from future national
and European elections;
3. Calls accordingly for a vote in favour of the draft treaty;
4. Intends to make full use of the expanded possibilities for closer
cooperation, the new articles on energy and animal welfare and the
popular initiative offered by the Constitution to make progress on a
wide range of issues;
5. Is convinced that in order to allow the EU to play a positive role
in reaching our priority goals of social justice, ecologically
sustainable development and peace, new initiatives to complete and
strengthen European democracy will be necessary;
6. Welcomes the first step towards modification of the Constitution
set in January 2005, when the European Parliament, on a proposal by
the Greens, announced that it will make use of its future right of
initiative to propose improvements in the Constitution;
7. Will instigate a European citizen's initiative with the aim of
obtaining citizens support for a first amendment to the Constitution
focusing on extending European democracy, creating an area of social
security, justice and solidarity and giving the EU the instruments to
play a role of peace in the international scene;
8. To this end, takes the firm commitment of building stable dialogue
and alliances with all those social, economic forces and associations
that share our goals, in order to launch the initiative to amend to
the Constitutional Treaty, aimed at answering at its shortcomings;
9. Underlines the need to continue in the coming years the process of
amending the treaty and in particular the articles of part III which
underlines the policies of the Union but were not discussed at the
time of the convention's work.
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