Paris, 3 July 2001. - Members of the Foreign Affairs, Defence and European Affairs Committees of the 15 EU member states, as well as members of the European Parliament and the WEU Assembly – the interim European Security and Defence Assembly – discussed the question of parliamentary oversight of the EU’s European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) at a conference in Brussels on 2-3 July 2001, at the start of Belgium’s Presidency of the EU and WEU.
 
In her opening remarks yesterday, the President of the European Parliament, Mrs Nicole Fontaine, while explaining the status quo regarding the EP’s information and consultation rights in respect of the European Security and Defence Policy, said that national parliaments needed a coherent European perspective on ESDP. Otherwise, they could not exercise their responsibilities for the parliamentary oversight of ESDP. Mrs Fontaine also said that one should be prudent when considering that any form of collective scrutiny might eventually lead to a second parliamentary chamber in the EU. She argued that the involvement of national parliaments in the ESDP was essential to ensure the support of the people of Europe for the future development of the EU’s security and defence policy.   
 
In his reply, the President of the WEU Assembly, Mr Klaus Bühler, welcomed Mrs Fontaine’s speech, offering her the Assembly’s full cooperation. In his main statement Mr Bühler said that there were three essential points to bear in mind when it came to parliamentary oversight of ESDP:   
 
1. Any model should at least offer the same parliamentary rights as established in the WEU Assembly (i.e. a statutory obligation upon the Council to report to the Assembly on all its activities and also to reply to Assembly recommendations and questions).   
2. The representation of the national parliaments should reflect the size of the countries concerned and their political diversity.   
 
3. The need for “inclusiveness” to allow parliamentarians of non-EU European NATO member states and EU applicant countries to participate fully.   
 
Mr Bühler declared that the Assembly would continue to keep a close watch on the EU’s ESDP until a permanent arrangement for parliamentary scrutiny was properly established.