RESOLUTION OF THE SEIMAS OF THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA

RESOLUTION OF THE SEIMAS OF THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA RESOLUTION OF THE SEIMAS OF THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA REGARDING THE DEBATES ON THE FUTURE OF EUROPE 4 July 2002 Vilnius The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, having listened: - to the information about the activities of the Convention on the Future of Europe presented by the representatives of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania in the Convention; - to the information on the debate on the future of Europe launched by the civil society; - to the opinion of the parliamentary groups of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania on the issues discussed in the Convention on the Future of Europe; invoking the Resolution of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania "On Lithuania's Negotiations for EU Accession" of 19 December 2001; having examined: - the preliminary proposals by the expert working groups formed pursuant to the decision of the Seimas Board; - the Guiding Principles of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania on the Future of the European Union, emphasises the exceptional significance which the issues considered in the Convention on the Future of Europe will have for Lithuania's future and its future membership in the European Union; draws the attention of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania to the need to keep the public well-informed on the Convention on the Future of Europe; calls on the political parties, interest groups, NGO's and the public at large to take a more active part in the debates on the future of Europe; recommends: to the representatives of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania in the Convention on the Future of Europe to have regard to the preliminary proposals of the expert working groups formed pursuant to the decision of the Board of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania (appended); to instruct the committees and parliamentary groups of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania to present, by 3 September 2002, the positions of the committees and parliamentary groups on the issues relating to the future of Europe, formulated in the Laeken Declaration; to instruct the Committee on European Affairs of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania to present to the Seimas, by 17 September 2002, the common position on the issues regarding the future of Europe, formulated in the Laeken declaration, based on proposals submitted by the Seimas committees, parliamentary groups and expert working groups. CHAIRMAN OF THE SEIMAS OF THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA ARTŪRAS PAULAUSKAS Appendix to 4 July 2002 Resolution of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania MAIN POINTS OF THE PRELIMINARY PROPOSALS OF EXPERT WORKING GROUPS TO THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE SEIMAS OF THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA IN THE CONVENTION ON THE FUTURE OF EUROPE The position to be adhered to during the deliberations on the text of the Constitution of the European Union and the Constitutional Treaty should be as follows: since the existing Treaties Establishing the European Union go beyond the conventional international agreements, the Constitution of the European Union and the Constitutional Treaty must be drafted on the basis of the structure and contents of the existing treatries rather than designe an entirely novel Constitution of the European Union which might eventually become the basis for the European Union as a super power; - the debate on the issue of the Constitution of the European Union and the Constitutional Treaty should focus on the need for the European Union to act only in those spheres where this Treaty has given it its mandate and that exclusive competence of the Member States should not be strictly defined in order not to limit sovereignty of the Member States and their freedom of action within the framework of autonomy of the national constitutions; - with a view to giving an exact definition of the status of the European Union, the Constitution of the European Union and the Constitutional Treaty should stipulate specifically that the European Union has a singler legal personality and state clearly the principles of co-operation between the Member States of the European Union; - for the purposes of simplification of the Treaties of the European Union it is necessary to make them more intelligible without changing their legal nature and sense; - in the debate on the competence of the European Union institutions and their better definition, four kinds of competencies of the European Union which are reflected in the Constitutional Treaty should be distinguished and set out in a systemic way: exclusive competence, general competence, additional competence and co-ordination (promotion) of co-operation in certain areas. One other, "negative competence" should also be outlined whereby certain decisions may not be made either by the European Union institutions or the Member States (e.g., the fundamental norms of the Treaty Establishing the European Community in the sphere of free movement of goods, capital, freedom of establishment, and competition law). At the same time, the general principle should be preserved under which the European Union acts only in those spheres where the Constitutional Treaty has given it the right to act; - for the purposes of defining the legal status of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, voice should be given for it to be legally binding and to be included in a future Constitution or Constitutional Treaty of the European Union with minimal amendments to the content of the Charter and the legal system of the European Union/European Communities; - for the purposes of adjusting the competence of the institutions of European Union, attempts should be made to further the development of the European Union by preserving and improving the present institutions rather than by changing them in essence. When assigning new competence to the European Union, the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality should be respected, and no new competence should be assumed by way of stepping on the principle of the solidarity of Member States. Only the preservation of the principles of solidarity, subsidiarity and proportionality and the creation of effective control over them will ensure equal rights of the European Union Member States and the success of cohesion policy; - during the debate about the institutional structure of the European Union, the view should be taken that the creation of new institutions (e.g. the second chamber of the parliament) would pose additional bureaucratic obstacles for citizens of the European Union and will hardly add to the efficiency of the European Union. The interaction and concerted action of the institutions of the European Union, i.e. the Council, the European Commission, the European Parliament, the European Court of Justice and others, would contribute to the achievement of common goals of the European Union. The enhancement of the Community method, a stronger voice of the European Commission would mean more effective achievement of common goals of the European Union; - during the debate about the role of national parliaments, it should be spoken in favour of enhancing national parliaments both from the point of view of the scrutiny of activities of national governments and the permanent monitoring of the activities of the institutions of the European Union. National parliaments should be involved in the exercise of control over the implementation of the principle of subsidiarity both before and after the adoption of decisions by the institutions of the European Union. A multilateral agreement should be concluded between the European Parliament and national parliaments on the co-operation of parliamentary committees, regular conferences of chairmen of parliaments, the strengthening of the role of COSAC and the development of a well-organised interparliamentary information communication system. Efforts should be made to have the annual action programme of the European Commission deliberated by national parliaments. It should also be striven for the publicity and transparency of the meetings of the European Council and the Council of the European Union by providing national parliaments with an opportunity to examine the minutes of the meetings of the Council; - during the debate about the prospects of the creation of the single market of the European Union and the economic growth of the European Union, it should be aimed at giving priority to those areas of policy which promote the social and economic cohesion of the European Union Members States and reduce their economic and social disparities. In the face of new threats and challenges a more coherent co-operation in the fields of justice and home affairs as well as common foreign and security policy should be promoted.