Jerzy Buzek: Quo vadis parliament?

In an exclusive article for the Parliament Magazine, European parliament presidential candidate, Jerzy Buzek argues that the assembly is set to play a crucial role over the coming years.

Last March, the European parliament celebrated its 50th anniversary. This was a very special event for all of us coming from those member states which only became part of the EU in 2004, after five decades of enforced Communist rule and after 15 years of building freedom and democracy.

It was special because, firstly, we were celebrating together, as one continent, in an EU of 27 member states. And secondly, because the event brought home clearly how important 'parliamentarism' is to European democracy and how the European parliament has grown in maturity during these same years. We – the new members – know this only from books, being on the opposite side of the iron curtain for much of that period.

The beginnings of the parliament were in fact very modest. For several decades, it was a largely consultative body, without any real legislative power. Moreover, MEPs were nominated by their respective national parliaments, so a European political career was always overshadowed by political activities in the parliamentary chamber at home.

Today the situation is very different. The parliament has been gaining power and influence steadily with every treaty revision since the Single European Act (signed in 1986), with the introduction of the 'codecision' procedure in the Maastricht treaty (1992) being the big breakthrough.

Already some three quarters of EU legislation is decided jointly by MEPs and the Council of Ministers, with the parliament able to exercise a veto over proposals it dislikes. It can and does use that power to promote legislative outcomes that respond more directly to the concerns of citizens – as recently on roaming charges for mobile phone calls and the downloading of texts.

If, and when, the new Lisbon treaty comes into effect, the proportion of key EU legislation needing the parliament's approval will increase to around 90 per cent, covering for the first time important policy areas such as agriculture, fisheries, external trade, and justice and home affairs. The budgetary procedure will be reformed too: the abolition of the distinction between 'compulsory' and 'non-compulsory' expenditure would mean that the parliament and council will have co-equal powers across all EU spending.

Once an advisory body, the parliament is already a powerful, self-confident institution with a growing sense of mission. With the Lisbon treaty, it will become an even more influential actor at the heart of the politics of the EU.

We should understand, respect and appreciate the meaning of a strong and independent legislative branch in the decision-making process. A vibrant parliamentary chamber is central to a democratic political culture. Given my personal perspective, in this sense, even though I have extensive executive experience, I am very much a 'patriot of parliamentarism'. You have to remember that all Communist states had parliaments which were there to give 'window dressing' to the regimes which they supported uncritically. I can assure you: you never fully appreciate parliamentary democracy fully until you have experienced losing it.

Parliament has achieved success very quickly – and has done this in part by very much putting the interests of the citizen at the heart of its work. However, the current economic and financial crisis – together with other, very problematic, pre-existing global challenges, like climate change and international crime – mean that it's biggest and most difficult work is perhaps yet to come.

Parliament's seventh five-year term will start very soon, when the new chamber – elected between 4 -7 June – meets for the first time in mid-July. Which issues are likely to be the biggest challenges of the coming 2009-2014 parliament?

These challenges are both institutional and substantive. In my view, securing a successful conclusion to the long process of ratifying the Lisbon treaty – and the successful introduction of its various provisions in due course – will be one of the central tasks of the new parliament. Parliament has a duty to constructively assist and support those member states where ratification has not yet been concluded. As the parliament also stands to be a big beneficiary institutionally from the treaty, it is vital that it is active, efficient and professional in the way it adjusts to and uses its new powers.

On the substance of policy, energy in its various forms now features as an increasingly critical issue. Until recently, EU member states thought of it exclusively as an issue for decision at national level. Recent experience has strongly challenged this point of view. The shortages of gas supply, which hit several member states hard in the middle of the winter, illustrated how urgent this matter is.

Today no one questions that energy supply and energy security questions require a strong European dimension – and, that our continent needs real diversification of sources, routes and suppliers. The newly-elected parliament will need to play its legislative role responsibly, once relevant proposals are put forward by the commission, as early as possible in the new five-year term. Our major concern should be to advance diversification and increase our independence in the area of energy supply.

Climate change will also remain at the centre of our attention. A post-Kyoto environmental deal still needs to be hammered out by the main players before, and at this December's Copenhagen conference. The EU is well equipped to play a leading role – not least because the commission's 'climate change and energy package' has now been adopted by both the parliament and council of ministers. European parliamentarians played a crucial role in shaping the final outcome.

Mitigating climate change will be a costly process for every sector of the economy. Yet we must remember that for a long time, for our own sake and the sake of the generations to come, we have stood firm on the obligation to protect our environment, accepting its costs. Thus we must turn our efforts towards innovations and new technologies, if we want to keep those costs under control and remain economically competitive. After all, the very principles enshrined in the Lisbon strategy still prevail, and are of undisputable significance at the present time, when we seek to recover from the economic turbulence.

We are in the midst of a huge financial and economic crisis. This is a genuine global crisis, which requires international solutions. The EU, as one of today's main global economic actors, plays a crucial role in defining workable solutions.

We must seek to ensure that the risk of such a widespread crisis happening again in the future is substantially limited. This will require more intelligent supervision of the financial markets – by improving national and international financial governance, increased transparency of international financial markets, greater linkage between reward and long-term commitment to companies. Parliament's calls for better regulation of financial markets and products fell upon deaf ears for a long time.

As the commission now comes forward with its legislative proposals in this area, we will have to shape them in a way that responds adequately to the new situation and the concerns of our citizens.

Today's EU is, more than anything else, a community of values. The new parliament must continue to promote these values around the world: freedom of speech, democracy, human rights, human dignity and solidarity with those less fortunate than ourselves.

The vehicles which at our disposal to achieve this aim already include several inter-parliamentary assemblies which already exist, notably the ACP (Africa, Caribbean and Pacific), EUROLAT (Latin America) and EMPA (Mediterranean). Importantly, this toolbox will soon be strengthened by the creation, from autumn 2009, of the new EURONEST parliamentary assembly, which will be parliament's outreach to Europe's eastern neighbours.

In all of these crucial regions, we can make an enormous contribution to strengthening parliamentary capacity, for example, which is a prerequisite to ensuring that democracy takes root.

From 2009 to 2014, the European parliament, hopefully with its already significant powers further enhanced by the Lisbon treaty, will have an even stronger leadership role to play within the EU political system. With power comes responsibility. Members of the European parliament have not sought greater power for its own sake.

Strengthening parliamentary control over the EU legislative and political process is ultimately about making our union more democratic and accountable. Our work in Brussels and Strasbourg is about responding to and serving the interests of the people.

The European elections coming up this June offer the electorate the opportunity to assert their priorities for the future shape of an EU in which the parliament will play a central role in coming years.

It is important that our citizens grasp the opportunity to vote and celebrate the value and success of building a more democratic Europe through the parliamentary process. The new Europe and a dynamic European parliament go hand in hand.

Jerzy Buzek MEP, EPP-ED is a member of parliament's industry, research and energy committee, a former prime minister of Poland and a candidate for the post of European parliament president

• Previous article
• Next article