By Nicola Smith - 4th February 2004
Centre Right MEPs are set to spark a political furore by attempting to restrict former leading Communists from entering the European Parliament after the June elections.
A resolution by the largest parliamentary group, the EPP, at its Brussels Congress on Thursday is expected to call on “all political groups not to accept into their ranks leading personalities of former Communist regimes.”
But the move has prompted such a strong outcry from other political parties that some insiders believe it may yet cause the EPP to temper its words.
The European Liberal Democrats, the parliament’s third largest political group, voiced strong opposition to the plan.
"The European Parliament is not a court, and should not get involved in legal or quasi-legal matters. It is up to each Member State to deal with its own past, and this should be done at national rather than at European level,” said Liberal leader Graham Watson.
“We judge people on their merits - if they are democrats, democratically elected, we should accept them. If there are issues in their past which merit judicial investigation, this is a matter for the Member State concerned."
Jens-Peter Bonde, leader of the smaller EDD group, also agreed that it should be up to the people to decide who to vote for.
“It should be dealt with by the electorate. It should not be an issue of European political parties…this is a contravention of the principle of subsidiarity,” he said.
And while the Socialists are holding fire until the resolution has been passed, one parliament insider indicated that they had been “pretty pissed off” by the EPP’s move.
Critics also point out that several current leading European politicians, most notably Polish Prime Minister Leszek Miller, would find themselves in the absurd position of being allowed to represent their countries at the highest ministerial level, but treated as pariahs in the European Parliament.
The EPP argues that the restrictions would only apply to the European Parliament, but at the same time it has not ruled out implications for the nominees from former Soviet states to the European Commission.
This could have strong implications for Estonian candidate, Siim Kallas, who was a member of the Communist party of the Soviet Union from 1972 to 1990.
An EPP insider indicated Kallas may face a grilling, in particular from Eastern European observer MEPs, when he took the stand in May before the European Parliament.
All ten new commissioners from the accession states must be approved by MEPs in Strasbourg before they can take up their new posts.
Defending the EPP’s proposal, centre right leader Hans-Gert Poettering said it had been brought to the fore by observer MEPs from former Communist countries.
“We are not at the level of naming names but we want to look at individuals and see if there has been any conversion on the road to Damascus for former Communist leaders,” he said.
An EPP spokesman added that the text of the resolution was inspired by the need not to forget the atrocities that had been committed under totalitarian regimes.
The resolution is also expected to condemn totalitarian Communism for the “untold damage” it has done in the world.
The EPP will also on Thursday adopt its formal manifesto for the European elections.
German CDU leader Angela Merkel, attending the EPP congress in Brussels, said the party would be campaigning largely on economic and security issues for the June poll.
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