The Government was urged by Labour in a private member's motion to take a more proactive role in promoting democratic reforms within the EU and give greater democratic powers to the parliament.

The Labour Party leader, Mr Ruairi Quinn, said the decision taken by the European Parliament last week was as much against the manner in which the Commission handled the crisis as the actual allegations made.

Some commentators, Mr Quinn added, had pointed out that some of the sins the commissioners were accused of would count merely as venial if put into comparison with the behaviour of members of some national governments. "Given what we now know about the conduct of the government in this State in the late 1980s and early 1990s this is not difficult to believe either."

Yet, said Mr Quinn, he believed the parliament was correct in exercising its power in the way that it did. "Perhaps for the first time ever, the national electorates when they vote in the European elections this June will understand that the body they are electing people to is not a toothless tiger. "They may feel also that again for the first time ever, they can have a say and exercise some control over the Brussels monolith."