Paris, 29 November –  WEU Assembly President Marcel Glesener said on Monday that he was “more convinced than ever” of the need for a parliamentary forum on European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP), and criticised WEU governments for trying to play down WEU’s achievements.
 
Opening the three-day Assembly session, he said: “the further down the road the governments of the European Union travel towards making our common security a tangible and working reality, the greater the need for a forum where our parliamentary representatives can have their say, be informed and enter into dialogue with decision-makers at the European level. That opportunity does not exist for them with the European Union, which is why our Assembly’s work continues to be so essential.”
 
Turning to the recent celebration of the WEU’s 50th anniversary, Mr Glesener said he was sure that member governments would “realise their mistake in seeking to play down the importance of that anniversary. For without the visionary work undertaken by the member states of WEU and its Assembly and what they were able to achieve by virtue of the modified Brussels Treaty, the European Union would not have inherited a firm foundation on which to build the European Security and Defence Policy and take it forward.”
 
He applauded WEU governments for rejecting for the time being the idea of denouncing the Treaty, and the “several” member states who appeared “to have taken the line that there was in fact a need for a rethink about the role played by the parliaments and more especially by this Assembly”. He then went on to state: “I can but encourage all governments concerned to give more thought to this matter and to do so in consultation with us, before it is too late. For the governments have to be clear whether they genuinely want a democratic Europe, or whether they want to avoid that commitment by establishing a system in Europe with a veneer of democracy that isolates and distances the members of national parliaments.”
 
Mr Glesener had some strong criticism for the outgoing Dutch presidency and Foreign Minister Bernard Bot’s failure to present an annual report orally to the Assembly or send a representative. “The situation is a serious one as the oral presentation, which is provided for by the Charter, constitutes an integral part of the annual report [and] is a fundamental aspect of our institutional dialogue with the Council”, he said. “I hope that this lapse is merely an isolated instance and does not set a precedent.”
 
Endorsing the criticism, Assembly Federated Group representative, David Atkinson, also deplored the fact that by declining to present the annual report “the presidency has broken the Treaty”. Article IX of the modified Brussels Treaty stipulates that the Council must deliver an annual report on its activities to the Assembly.