(07/12/06) Groene fractieleidster Frassoni kandidaat-voorzitter EP

• 2006-12-07

Monica Frassoni, verkozen voor de Italiaanse Groenen, is kandidaat om het voorzitterschap van het Europees Parlement op te nemen. Ze neemt daarmee stelling in tégen het akkoord dat de Europese conservatieven en christen-democraten (EVP) en de Europese socialisten aan het begin van deze termijn hebben gemaakt. Halverwege de termijn zou de socialist Borrel vervangen worden door de christen-democraat Poettering. De Europese Groenen hekelen dit gebrek aan keuze en de gevolgen die het met zich meebrengt. De Raad (van Ministers) veegt door deze 'grote coalitie' de vloer aan met het EP.

Frassoni's intentieverklaring

EP Presidency: Monica Frassoni runs for Presidency of the European Parliament

Monica Frassoni, Greens/EFA Co-President, today announced her candidacy for the Presidency of the European Parliament at a press conference in Brussels. Following a unanimous decision by the Greens/EFA group to support her candidacy yesterday, 6 December, Ms Frassoni launched her campaign and manifesto today, stating:

"The European Parliament should have a real meaning in the EU policy process but, in reality, it is increasingly losing its relevance and independence. MEPs are pressured by the Council to endorse fudged compromises on key legislative issues, a situation that is compounded by the stifling 'Grand Coalition' between the two largest groups in the house. The decision on the EP's Presidency, by which MEPs are expected to rubber stamp the back-door deal between the EPP and PSE, is symptomatic of this stale arrangement. I want the European Parliament to really mean something and my candidacy is intended to provide a real political alternative to the 'Grand Coalition'."

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Background : According to the deal agreed between the EPP and the Socialist groups at the beginning of the parliamentary term in 2004, EPP President Hans-Gert Pöttering should become President of the EP for the second-half of the parliamentary term in January next year. The Greens/EFA group has criticised this arrangement, under which the role of Parliament should merely be to rubberstamp a backdoor deal on its Presidency. Such a situation does not benefit open democratic debate in the Parliament, however it need not be the only outcome ...