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Six months on, MEPs give their views on new Lisbon Treaty powers
[15/07/2010]

Half a year after the Lisbon Treaty entered into force and broadened the competences of the European Parliament, the BBC asked MEPs how they feel about their new powers, and whether the European Parliament is democratic enough. The article features a collection of short answers by known personalities of all pro-democratic EP political groups present in the European Parliament.

“I deplore the European Parliament's lack of involvement in drafting the EU's 2020 strategy and in the current discussions on enhanced economic governance – even though Article 121-6 of the Lisbon Treaty grants Parliament co-decision powers” said S&D MEP Pervenche Beres, Chair of the EP Employment and Social Affairs Committee.

Rebecca Harms, Green MEP commented on the matter using the example of latest Swift agreement: “in the end MEPs behaved surprisingly weakly (…) It was as if some children had behaved badly and after some serious meetings with the grandparents the children decided 'OK, we've gone far enough this time. Parliament is learning that it has new power, but it's not really fit to use it yet, not really able to stand up to pressure from the Council.”

Source: BBC