Europarlementariërs beginnen tegenoffensief tegen intergouvernementalisme (en)
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Alarmed at what they see as a rise in the European Union of 'intergovernmentalism' - the supremacy of EU member states in decision-making at the expense of more 'European' pan-community decision-making via the European Commission and parliament - some euro-deputies are mounting a counter-offensive to promote the importance of the EU and its institutions.
To be known as the Spinelli group, after the Italian political thinker Altiero Spinelli i and one of the "founding fathers" of the EU, the idea is the brainchild of Guy Verhofstadt i, the head of the liberal group in the parliament, and his Green counterpart, Daniel Cohn-Bendit.
Other MEPs known to be involved are Sylvie Goulard, a French liberal, and Isabelle Durant, a Belgian Green. The fledgling group also has the support of Jacques Delors i, the grand old man of European federalism known for presiding over the European Commission at one of the most dynamic and powerful times in its history.
Mario Monti i is also involved. A former competition commissioner, he recently wrote a well-received study on the importance of completing the internal market.
The details of the group are to be unveiled by Mr Verhofstadt and Mr Cohn-Bendit on Wednesday (15 September).
The remit of the group remains vague, but a 500-word memo explaining the reasoning behind it laments the growth of intergovernmentalism and says there should be European responses to crises.
"The details are still hazy but there is a sense that they want to fight this rising intergovernmentalism," said a parliament source.
The initiative comes on top of a tumultuous few months for the EU. The 27-nation bloc has been buffeted by the economic crisis and is still try to find its feet within the new legal architecture, the Lisbon Treaty.
The European Commission, charged with finding European solutions in such areas as economic governance, has been struggling to make its presence felt as member states have been dictating the pace of discussions over the last few months.
Both Mr Verhofstadt and Mr Cohn-Bendit are among the strongest critics of European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso i, whom they regularly attack in plenary as not being combative enough with potentially wayward member states.