Mr President, Mr President of the Commission, ladies and gentlemen, we should use the Commission’s annual legislative programme for the year 2000 as an opportunity to reflect on the basic functions and tasks performed by the Commission, as well as those performed by the European institutions as a whole. Mr President of the Commission, it is fundamentally in the interests of the Group to have a strong European Commission. We intend, wherever we can bring influence to bear, to put an end to the Council of Ministers removing tasks from the Commission – as it were – and handling them itself, since as far as we are concerned, the Commission is the guardian of the Treaties and has the right of initiative for European legislation. We will defend this! However, we would also remind you of the fact that the European Union is based on a whole range of values and principles and on European law. In two months – on 9 May that is – we will have occasion to remember Robert Schumann, who on 9 May 1950, made the splendid proposal for a European Coal and Steel Community. In his words, it is not about striking a balance between the interests of the European nations but about reconciling their interests. That is the starting point for the resolution of conflicts on the basis of European law and the premise on which it is based. This is another area where we intend to scrutinise how the Commission puts its role as guardian of the Treaties into effect. No one has the right to undermine this European law! The boundaries between fairness, equal treatment, and the law of the European Union – of the European Community – are sometimes blurred. If I had taken the floor in the presence of the President-in-Office yesterday, I would have said then, what I am about to say now. I am alarmed to see the Council Presidency, and thus the Council, treating one Member State of the European Union differently to others. When the President-in-Office makes a tour of the European capitals in preparation for a summit meeting – which has been standard practice for many years – but leaves one capital out and asks the representative of this country to come to Brussels, then I do not consider that to be consistent with the principles of the European Union and the concepts underlying the Community of law. (Applause from the right) That is why I would like to make the following point to the Commission: Mr President of the Commission, so far we have had no cause to criticise you. You have handled this issue correctly and in accordance with the regulations – that is fine – but in future, we will base our assessment of the Commission on whether the Commission continues to act as guardian of the Treaties, and whether it is able, working in tandem with Parliament, to guarantee compliance with European law. When European law and fairness are under attack, we must make a clear stand, for these things must be nipped in the bud. (Applause from the right) I would like to make a point about subsidiarity. Many people understand the concept of subsidiarity to be the lever used to lower the European tasks to local authority, regional or national level. This may be appropriate in individual cases and indeed we must assess, in the case of every legislative procedure, whether the task in question would be best managed at national, regional or local level. This is what we need to do. But the concept of subsidiarity also means that the European Union must take on these tasks if they cannot reasonably be undertaken at national, regional or local level. Mr President, you have the right of initiative. According to the treaties, the European Parliament can ask the Commission to draw up a legislative proposal. In our experience, such requests have not always been attended to. There is the agreement reached with the Commission on 15 September last year, in which the Commission committed itself in broad terms to delivering the goods by and large when Parliament asks it for legislative initiatives. I would urge you to take this very seriously, Mr President of the Commission. When Parliament asks the Commission to prepare proposals, then we expect the Commission to keep its word in future and to deliver the goods. On this basis, and speaking on behalf of our group, I can tell you that we will do our bit – where we can – not just for a strong Europe, but also for a strong Commission, whose powers we are prepared to defend against the Council of Ministers. Accordingly, we are dependent, in the interests of Europe, on there being sound cooperation and dialogue between the Commission and the European Parliament, and that is why we intend to do what we can to support your policies for the Year 2000. (Applause)

Political group: PPE-DE