WRITTEN QUESTION No. 43/99 by Iñigo MÉNDEZ DE VIGO Institutional reform
6. 11. 1999 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 320/121 Answer given by Mr Pinheiro on behalf of the Commission (4 February 1999) The negotiating directives approved by the Council on 29 June last year for a development partnership agreement with the African, Caribbean and Pacific States (ACP) posit a differentiated approach as a basic principle of the future agreement. This approach will involve tailoring cooperation procedures and priorities to a partner’s development level, needs and long-term development strategy. The directives expressly provide for special treatment for the least-developed countries, with due account being taken of the vulnerability of land-locked and island countries. This will particularly affect the way resources are allocated. When assessing a country’s needs, account will be taken of structural or geographical factors of vulnerability. In the current negotiations with the ACP States, the parties have already planned discussions on the parameters to be taken into account. The Commission feels that such provisions would enable account to be taken of the particular difficulties facing small countries, without there being any need for a specific chapter in the future agreement. It should be noted, moreover, that, depending on the parameters used, a great many ACP countries could be considered small states. (1999/C 320/160) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0043/99 by Iñigo Méndez de Vigo (PPE) to the Commission (22 January 1999) Subject: Institutional reform In view of resolution A4-347/97 (1) adopted by the European Parliament on 19 November 1997 embodying its opinion on the Amsterdam Treaty, has the Commission begun drawing up a proposal for institutional reform, as called for in paragraph 20 of the resolution? (1) OJ C 371, 8. 12. 1997, p. 99. Answer given by Mr Santer on behalf of the Commission (9 March 1999) This year, the Commission informed Parliament and stated in its 1999 Work Programme, that it will present a ‘communication on the guidelines for institutional reform. ’ The entry into force of the Amsterdam Treaty, the ongoing discussions on ‘Tomorrow’s Commission’ and the guidelines which will emerge from the next European Council in Cologne will determine when the communication will be presented. As the Honourable Member already knows, some institutional reforms do not require formal amendments to the Treaties. A case in point is the implementation of Declaration 32 on the organisation and functioning of the Commission, annexed to the final act of the Amsterdam Conference. The Commission is completing the work as part of the ‘Tomorrow’s Commission’ exercise. Meanwhile, the Vienna European Council in December 1998 scheduled the decision ‘on how and when to tackle institutional issues left unresolved at Amsterdam’ for the Cologne European Council on 1 June 1999. In the President’s address to Parliament on 11 January 1999, the Commission tried to cast these considerations in a coherent mould. Thus the Commission should be able to inform Parliament on progress on internal reform and institutional matters in general before June 1999. Following the entry into force of the Amsterdam Treaty and discussions at the Cologne European Council, the Commission will present a communication ahead of the next intergovernmental conference, which will study institutional reform prior to enlargement