The ratification of the Lisbon Treaty could end the "wasteful" commute between Brussels and Strasbourg for MEPs.

That's according to Green members of the European Parliament who met in Galway last week.

The 785-member European Parliament currently divides its time between Brussels and Strasbourg at a significant cost to the environment and the European taxpayer. Last year, the Greens-EFA Group published a study demonstrating that the Parliament's 12 trips per year between its two homes costs more than €200 million and resulted in an excess of 20,000 tonnes of CO2 being produced annually - the equivalent of 13,000 return flights from London to New York.

According to the Green Party, Lisbon creates the possibility of proposing an amendment to the European Treaties, which the Greens-EFA Group intends to pursue as soon as the new Treaty is ratified. The proposal would then go before heads of EU member states.

The delegation of Green MEPs, including Pierre Jonckheer from Belgium, Margrete Auken from Denmark and Jean Lambert from the UK made a two-day visit to Galway. With counterparts from the Irish Green Party, policy advisers and representatives from NGOs and civil society, they discussed the Lisbon Treaty, the EU's climate change strategy, and the issue of integration in Ireland and the EU.

Speaking as the meeting concluded, Pierre Jonckheer MEP, Vice-President of the Greens-EFA Group in the European Parliament, said: "The Greens in the European Parliament see many advancements in the Lisbon Treaty, compared to the situation that exists under the Nice Treaty. I see evidence of a real increase of democracy, with enhanced roles in the policy-making process for the European Parliament and for national parliaments. One concrete example of this is the ability for the European Parliament to propose amendments to the EU treaties, and we Green MEPs intend, as soon as the Lisbon Treaty enters into force, to propose an amendment that would make Brussels the single seat of the European Parliament. We also intend to use the 'citizens' initiative' to reinforce this move, which makes sense on economic and environmental grounds. For the first time in European history, citizens can mobilise on a transnational, Europe-wide base to put political pressure on the EU institutions. I think this is an important step forward for grassroots democratic engagement in Europe."

The Green Party's European Affairs spokesperson Senator Deirdre de Burca added: "I second this call and am hopeful that it would be supported in the European Council by the Irish Government and other national governments. This meeting has been a very useful experience and has demonstrated that cooperation within Europe can help tackle the serious issues facing us, including climate change, energy security and integration policies, which we have been discussing in Galway. We have been very fortunate to benefit from the experience of our colleagues in Europe, and this meeting has reinforced to us the importance of the Irish Greens regaining MEP representation in 2009."

Comments (0) »

Show/Hide comment form

Name

Email

Title

Comment

Write the displayed characters

Add Comment