CHAPTER 2: A year of changes at the
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4. The Commission's Annual Policy Strategy for
2009, published on 18 February 2008, looks ahead to a year
which will see a new European Parliament elected in June and a
new college of Commissioners appointed in November.[2]
The election means that the majority of legislative business should
ideally be concluded by May 2009. The Commission will have tabled
most of its major outstanding legislative initiatives by the end
of 2008, meaning that a considerable lull in the presentation
of legislative proposals is foreseen for next year. During 2009,
the Commission indicates that it will focus on reaching agreement
on these initiatives, on implementation of the acquis,
and on effective financial management.[3]
5. At the time of publication, the Commission
also looked forward to the Lisbon Treaty's entry into force at
the beginning of 2009, if it had been ratified by all 27 Member
States. Preparations were being made to ensure the smooth implementation
of the Treaty's changes to the European institutions when it was
announced that Ireland had voted "no" to the Treaty
in its referendum of 12 June 2008. The picture has therefore changed
since the Annual Policy Strategy was published and since the Commission
wrote that "[w]ith a stable institutional framework in place,
the Union will be able to concentrate on addressing the concrete
challenges ahead".[4]
6. The Commission Vice-President in charge of
institutional relations and communication, Margot Wallström,
said that the referendum result would have "no direct consequences"
on the schedule for both the European Parliament elections and
the Commission change-over in 2009. The Annual Policy Strategy
"took a prudent approach" to the Lisbon Treaty and did
not list all the consequences of its entry into force or the initiatives
flowing from it. The Commissioner said that "[t]he nature
and timing of such initiatives will clearly be subject to ongoing
review" (p 14). She indicated that a number of implementation
measures were on hold, and said that at present "everybody
prefers not to engage in some kind of alternative plan but focus
on ratification and solving the problems that we see right now"
(Q 43). She did not say that the priorities in the Annual
Policy Strategy would be substantially affected, although the
details of policy proposals in areas that would have been significantly
altered by the Lisbon Treaty's implementation, such as the area
of freedom, security and justice, may well change. Much may depend
on what the Taoiseach tells the European Council in October about
the Lisbon Treaty's future.
7. Because of the disruption caused by the arrival
of a new European Parliament and a new Commission in 2009, the
majority of the initiatives included in the Annual Policy Strategy
are either non-legislative or implement legislation that has already
been adopted. The "key actions" for 2009 listed in the
Annual Policy Strategy's annex include stocktakings, communications,
green papers, follow-ups, progress reports and action plans.[5]
We welcome the Commission's agenda of consolidation for 2009
as pragmatic.
8. We think that the legislative lull in 2009
provides an excellent opportunity for the Commission to focus
on the even-handed implementation of EU legislation across the
Member States. That some of the 850 Commission posts to be newly
created or redeployed in 2009 will be allocated to supporting
the implementation of the acquis also reflects a welcome
degree of commitment to this agenda.
2 Annual Policy Strategy p 3 Back
3
Annual Policy Strategy p 3 Back
4
Annual Policy Strategy p 3 Back
5
Annual Policy Strategy Annex, pp 14-18 Back
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