Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union

News - 30/09/2010 By steven.haesen

On 30 September the Secretary of State for European Affairs Olivier Chastel represented the Presidency of the EU Council at the meeting of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs of the European Parliament and representatives of national parliaments. The representatives of the European Parliament, European Commissioner Maros Sefcovic and Olivier Chastel exchanged views on the citizens' initiative with the national parliaments.

The Lisbon Treaty was intended to ensure greater involvement of the national parliaments in the EU decision-making process. Likewise it was intended to expand citizen participation through the establishment of the Citizens' Initiative. “Our representative democracy is thus complemented by elements of participatory democracy”, declared the Secretary of State to the parliamentarians. Indeed, the citizens' initiative will allow one million citizens from a significant number of Member States to invite the Commission to introduce a legislative proposal in one of its fields of competence.

A balance must be found in the implementation of this citizens' initiative. For Olivier Chastel, “the rules and procedures to be established may not act as a deterrent. This new instrument must remain citizen-friendly and easily accessible, nevertheless rules must be established to guarantee a measure of credibility and effectiveness”.

In this respect, the Presidency of the EU recalled the general approach adopted in June 2010, establishing the position of the 27 member states. The Presidency is now awaiting a consolidated position of the European Parliament to engage in meaningful negotiations. “We hope an agreement will be reached with the European Parliament before the end of the year. This is an important goal of the Belgian Presidency”, Olivier Chastel stated.

 Speech by M Olivier Chastel, Secretary of State for European Affairs FR