The Council of EU Economic Ministers (Ecofin) should consult the European Parliament before deciding on the major guidelines for EU economic and budgetary policy, the parliament president, Mr Jose Maria GilRobles, told the European Council.
Speaking to the EU heads of state and government yesterday morning, Mr GilRobles said their meeting was concerned essentially with two subjects: "The co-ordination of the member-states' economic policies and the putting in hand of the process of enlarging the European Union."
On the co-ordination of economic policy, he broadly supported the British position. Decisions must essentially be made by all member-states through Ecofin, he said, rather than by any other smaller forum. "That is what the treaty and the principle of loyal co-operation between member-states demands".
States joining the euro might well be interested on co-ordinating matters arising from the existence of a single currency, he continued. However, he added, "we must prevent a club for certain exclusive policies becoming an exclusive club for all policies". There were formulas in existence to achieve this, he said.
Calling for greater consultation with the parliament he said this was the only institution "which guarantees the full participation of the representatives of all the member-states . . . Decisions on the major guidelines of the union's economic policy cannot be taken behind the backs of our citizens."
He said that the decision to pre-select a group of countries for enlargement negotiations was inappropriate. This would "create a fracture line that would result in a new kind of curtain between the candidate countries . . . [and] would penalise the ability of Central and eastern European countries not included in the preselection group to attract direct foreign investment".
The citizens of the candidate countries must be made aware of the political will to welcome them into the EU as soon as possible, he said. This necessitated the avoidance of "strange short cuts" such as the preselection of a small group of these countries which would damage the efforts of others.
Enlargement of the EU would bring major advantages for current member-states, he went on. "All previous enlargements have meant undeniable benefits for the countries which already belonged to the union and not merely for the candidate countries."