EFA in Catalonia

The parliamentary group of the European Free Alliance and the Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya organised a series of public meetings and political events from 7 to 10 March in Catalonia in the run-up to the Barcelona Summit of 15/16 March focusing on social and environmental issues. Under the general title of "peoples' rights in the new Europe", the European free Alliance focused its activities on two priorities: the social Europe and opposition to the grandiose plans of the Spanish government with regard to water management.

In a piece published in the Catalan media, the EFA advocated the consolidation of the welfare state and called for Europe to take advantage of the impetus generated by the transition to the Euro to demand that social rights be made the principal objective of the European Union henceforth. It was necessary to bring the level of social welfare in all Member States into line with the most advanced states inter alia as regards minimum salaries, social services, policies to help families and to combat precarious or abusive employment conditions.

A delegation travelled to the Ebro basin to meet with groups, associations and elected representatives (notably Mrs Marta Cid, Senator for the Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya) opposing the National Hydrological Plan of the government of Mr Aznar.

EFA representatives also participated in a demonstration against the NHP on Sunday 10 March in Barcelona in which more than 300,000 people took part.

EFA Women Network meets in Barcelona

The Women's EFA Network meeting 8 March 2002, on International Women's Day, was a great success and a positive step forward for EFA women. All the Women took part in the march entitled "Women Against Violence", which proved an excellent way to finish a very positive day for EFA Women. However, as was discussed in the meeting there are many issues the Network need to address, and there will be much focus on attracting more women into politics in the EFA parties and what can be done to ensure that EFA have more elected female members.

Jill Evans, Plaid Cymru MEP Chair of the Network opened the meeting. Jill welcomed members new and old to the meeting and recapped on why the Women's network was established and what the network was hoping to achieve. She reminded delegates that it was decided that a meeting would be held every year on International Women's Day. It was decided to set up the network in the first instance following an EFA conference in Brussels of about 70/80 delegates of which the majority were men. It was decided that the EFA Women's network could create links in order to look into the role of EFA women within their respective parties and asses why there is a lack of female participation within EFA in general.

It was pointed out that following last year's meeting little communication was established. Therefore establishing full contact with the EFA Women network members would be one of the main priorities for the coming year. Due to the heavy workload of all women present there was a consensus that the Women's Network would not increase an already heavy workload. Jill also took the opportunity to thank EFA for agreeing to give its financial support for the annual meetings.

Copies of the EFA Women's Network - Declaration of Barcelona 2002 were circulated. The declaration was unanimously adopted by those present, and representatives of each party had the opportunity to comment on its content, especially on the four initiatives presented in its conclusion. The declaration has now been sent to each member of the Network so that it can be posted on each party's website.

The minutes of the meeting and action points will be circulated to all EFA Women Network members and information on the activities and women's initiatives of each party will be transferred by e-mail and posted on each party's Webster during the course of the year.

To close Jill would like to express her gratitude to all those from Esquerra Republicana who made the meeting possible and who looked after us so well during the day. Big thank you especially to Carme Porte, Nuria and Laia.

Chechnya

Bart Staes (Spirit-Flanders), recently elected president of the delegation to the EU-Russia parliamentary cooperation committee, welcomed that his request for a debate on human rights abuses in Chechnya has finally taken place at the Strasbourg April plenary session, where a resolution was adopted. The EFA Flemish MEP has a mandate to start an independent investigation to monitor the situation and investigate human rights violations through a joint EP-Russia working group.

During a visit to the region from April 13 to 17, a parliamentary delegation led by Bart Staes met with their counterparts in the Russian Duma (Parliament). It gave MEP's an early opportunity to discuss the issue with their Russian counterparts and to underline the call in the resolution for the creation of an ad hoc European Parliament delegation to visit the Northern Caucausus region. This delegation would discuss with the Russian authorithies and Chechen representatives all issues relating to the current conflict. The Russian parliamentarians -although they were critical of the resolution- responded positively to this request, declaring that they were "open for such a visit" and will assist in the preparation.

Staes and his delegation had the opportunity to press home other key messages of the EP Resolution, which emphasises that there is no military way to solve the problems in Chechnya and calls on all parties involved to seek an immediate cease-fire and a political solution to the conflict. It also underlines that human rights are one and indivisible and that all perpetrators of abuses shoukd be brought to justice.

National census in Poland

A national census will start in May this year in Poland. Among a number of questions to be asked, two are related to "national" considerations: nationality and language.

Officially the authorities say that everyone has the right to declare its own nationality and they corroborate that all the answers must be put down in application forms by census collectors as given by individuals, according to the self-definition of the respondent. But the Main Office for Statistics (Glowny Urzad Statystyczny-GUS) has already announced that only eleven nationalities will be officially recognised during the census and Silesian nationality will not be considered.

In an Upper Silesian regional paper called "Dzien" ("A Day") of March 4th 2002 the officials of the GUS informed that the census collectors will induce Silesians not to declare Silesian nationality but Polish. In the same report GUS officials have suggested that even though Silesian nationality is declared and put in an application form, it will not be considered during the electronic preparation of data collected during the census.

The EFA observer party, Silesian Autonomy Movement, strongly opposes to such a form of breaching the law. They do not accept any kind of denying their nationality and will not agree for any changes in declarations they will make during the national census.

The democratic and transparent way of preceding is to publish the results of the national census reflecting exactly the answers given by citizens, with no manipulation.

Collecting eggs ('lipaaisyken') in Friesland

The Frysk Nasjonale Partij (FNP, Friesian National Party) achieved some good results and the local elections of 3 March, obtaining more than 2%. On to April 2002, the Flemish member of Parliament Bart Staes travelled to Friesland to congratulate the Friesian allies of the the EFA and to give his support to the upkeep of an ancient tradition, the 'lipaaisyken'. In Friesland, the collecting of lapwing eggs has a long tradition. The Queen's Commissioner and the mayors are given the first eggs as a symbol to celebrate spring.

The organisation for the protection of wild animals (Stichting Faunabeheer) submitted a complaint stating that this was in breach of the European directive on birds. The advocates of this practice say that the collection of lapwing eggs has a positive effect on the population of this species. In addition, anyone wanting to collect eggs needs an authorisation. Moreover the Friesian union for the protection of birds (Bond van Friese Vogelbeschermingswachten) financed educational programmes and programmes for the protection of habitats.

Bart Staes pledged to take initiatives in Parliament in order to protect not only the lapwing but the also the tradition of collecting eggs.

Convention

In its third plenary session on 15-16 April 2002 the Convention on the Future of Europe debated the Union's missions and powers. The mainstream opinion of the Convention members stuck to the known system of EU powers : exclusive, shared and additional competences. The differences of opinion deal with the question which policy domains fall under which category of competences. Members from as well present Member States as applicant countries stressed the subsidiarity and proportionality principles. Several members of applicant countries added to this the principle of solidarity. Representative of the German Bundesrat and Minister President of Baden-Würtemberg Erwin Teufel was rather isolated with his opinion that the shift of powers has not to be one-way so that some EU-powers could be re-nationalised.

The mainstream of the opinions expressed preferred the implicit formula that responsibilities not covered by the powers of the EU remain with the Member States instead of spelling out the exclusive competences of the Member States in the Treaties. The internal territorial authorities, education and culture were put foreward the most as matters that have to remain the responsibility of the Member States.

EFA representative Neil MacCormick pleaded for a European multi-level democracy, that takes into account the role of the regions with legislative powers in the EU. He said : "A genuine democracy in Europe has to be a multi-level democracy. Citizens must remain enabled to be - and to feel that they are - self-governing on the local level and on the regional. These are the very levels at which many are most apt to feel the strongest sense of their identity. We must retain a lively and empowered democracy at the local and regional levels, using states and finally the Union as necessary shared resources for securing common principles, values and framework laws. These are what bind us together as Europeans and enable us to share membership in a great community that is politcal and social as well as economic in character". Belgian Foreign Affairs Minister Louis Michel and Andrew Duff of the Liberal Group shared this view. Several interventions, i.a. those of Neil MacCormick and Commissioner Vitorino revealed the need for a mechanism to review the subsidiarity. Convention President Giscard singled this item out as a theme for a possible working group.

Foreign and security policy were most cited as tasks for which the EU has to be given more powers. Portuguese MP Costa suggested to lay down the military capacity of the EU in the EU constitution. Other members stressed that the internal market powers of the EU should be balanced by strengthened powers on social and employment policies. The mainstream of the opinions expressed in the Convention favoured to foresee the possibility of further evolution of the competences of the EU (with references to Articles 95 and 308 EC Treaty). The next plenary meeting of the Convention on 23-24 May will deal with the relationship between competences and instruments.

MacCormick -- call for a working group on subsidiarity

At the plenary sitting on Tuesday, Neil MacCormick MEP stressed that subsidiarity should not be an empty word but that it should be implemented in reality and proposed that a working group be established under the Convention to look into this issue. Hannes Farnleiter, representative of the Austrian government, agreed and called for the citizen to be placed at the centre of the definition of subsidiarity: thus, he argued, at EU level one should do that which was "best in terms of cost" and most effective for the citizen. As regards the competence of Member States, Mr Farnleiter called for an appropriate definition, emphasising the role of local and national levels in areas such as education, training, culture, town and country planning, housing policy, local services of general interest.

Lamassoure report on the division of powers in the EU

The report was adopted on 18 April by the Constitutional Affairs Committee (21 votes in favour, 2 votes against, 5 abstentions). This report is scheduled for the first May plenary session.

Its paragraph 15 sticks to the present framework of division of powers in the EU : (1) the powers in principle of the Member States, (2) the powers proper to the EU and (3) the shared powers. Par. 20 adds the drawing up and the running of the Common Foreign and Defence Policy to the powers proper to the Union.

Although the title "partner regions of the EU" was kept, this concept was watered down in the text. The report requests to draft a full report on the role of the regions in the EU.

Par. 39 provides for a special appeal procedure concerning subsidiarity : one month following the adoption of an EU legislative text and before it takes effect, the text in question could be attacked by the Commission or by a significant minority in Council or the EP on the ground of non-compliance of the subsidiarity or proportionality principles.

FNP celebrates her 40 years anniversary with a huge growth

The Frisian National Party celebrated its 40th anniversary on Saturday, the 9th of February. Party chairman, Aalsen Everts, spoke about last year's political results. He also shared his hope with the guests that the next elections will show an equal growth in terms of voters to that of the party membership growth-rate. The FNP is one of the few political parties from the Netherlands who still has a growing number of members.

Elections were held on the 6th of March for all the municipalities of the Netherlands. Fryslân/Frisia has 31 municipalities and in the last four years the FNP was represented in 19 of them. Now two more municipalities have FNP representatives in their council. One of the new municipalities is the capital of Fryslân/Frisia; Ljouwert/Leeuwarden. After 24 years the FNP regains its seat in the council of the capital with a 32 years old young and ambitious politician. But all over the province, the FNP was victorious. The number of FNP voters grew from 23.600 at the last municipality elections to 28.800 voters this time and the number of representatives grew from 42 to 50.

Next year the elections of the provincial parliament will take place. A new law from De Hague cuts back on the number of MP's in the Frisian government from 55 to 39. This is of course disastrous for the smaller parties. Hopefully the FNP can attract even more voters at the provincial elections. At the last provincial elections 8.4% of the Frisians were voted for the party. And if the FNP continues to grow and remains capable of attracting young and ambitious politicians, the future is theirs.

Siebren de Boer
Member of the FNP-board