The deal maker

“A wonderful time” is how Ria Oomen-Ruijten describes her first experiences as an MEP. After working for the CDA parliamentary party for eight years back home in the Netherlands, Oomen-Ruijten joined politics at the European level at the end of the 1980s, as a member of the EPP group, and quickly came to appreciate both the broader range of issues dealt with than at the domestic level and the challenging task of representing a much larger number of people. Changes to parliament’s role as an institution added to the initial excitement which, she says, has continued throughout her time in parliament.

“At the beginning of the nineties, it was a wonderful time at the European parliament. It was a very interesting period, for example with enlargement, and at the time I had no desire to go back to domestic politics. Before I came to Brussels I had a discussion with my colleagues in the Dutch parliament, and I understood that the EU had a parliament with legislative powers. So it was not simply a parliament with the powers of consultation. Of course, then there was the Treaty of Maastricht, which brought about further changes. It was a fascinating time to be in Europe. It still is.”

Oomen-Ruijten is currently chair of parliament’s delegation to the EU-Russia parliamentary cooperation committee. She says she has been surprised by what she feels has been a dramatic shift in the tone of these discussions, and in particular the issues that are currently on the agenda.

“There is a breath of fresh air in the Russian parliament at the moment. The Russians now want new policies on the agenda. For instance, they are keen to discuss the eradication of poverty. They told me that they do not want any more poverty in Russia, and so they wanted to discuss how Europe had worked with countries such as Spain and Portugal when they became members of the EU, particularly in terms of providing the necessary employment funds and social benefits that were used to help these countries develop. These sorts of topics are completely new. You can’t imagine the same things being discussed 10 years ago, ideas that Russia itself wants to talk about. It’s a totally different mood.”

Despite this optimism, Oomen-Ruijten says that there are issues over which Russia and the EU remain divided, on Kosovo, for example. She says she feels frustrated that her Russian colleagues are unwilling to accept the argument that Russia could have intervened to change the situation while there was still time. There are also, she says, many more issues, such as the state of democracy within Russia, which remains debatable during the meetings between EU and Russian parliamentarians.

“When we meet, we do have very open and frank discussions. We might ask, for example, why do you want 100 per cent control of your democracy? Why is registration for NGOs under the new legislation so difficult? Why should you do that? Why don’t you accept a presidential candidate with so many signatures of support? We all know that people like Putin, so it seems crazy to spend so much effort to ensure that his candidate has 80 per cent rather than 75 per cent.”

Her analysis is that it is a matter of waiting to see whether Russia will act on the promises made to improve human rights issues and democracy within the country. Meetings between the EU delegation and their Russian colleagues continue to consist of “a real debate going on, a proper dialogue”, this time with more talking and less shouting than in previous years.

Human rights also play a large part in Oomen-Ruijten’s work as rapporteur on Turkey’s 2007 progress report. She says that she has had a “mixed picture” from the country in terms of its progress on the road towards EU membership, and feels that there is still a long way to go and the outcome is far from certain. “Even if Turkey has fulfilled the commitment of securing the rule of law and an improved record of individual human rights and freedoms, even when that has been done, if the country remains unstable and there is still poverty in the region, then the country is not able to be a good member of the EU. I wanted to enforce the idea that there is a burden of responsibility on Turkey to reform the whole country.”

The European parliament, she says, can only do so much to advance the progress of Turkey’s route towards EU membership. “Turkey has said that they are convinced that the reforms are the best thing they can do for the Turkish citizens. My job is to keep them on this path. What we have to do as parliamentarians is to be honest with them and tell them enough is enough. It’s up to them. If they come up with reforms, then there’s no problem. If they don’t come up with the reforms, then we have a problem.”

In addition to her parliamentary work, Oomen-Ruijten is chair of the disputes settlement committees foundation, an organisation which helps solve disputes between individuals and companies without having to go to court. Mediating disputes, she says, is a central characteristic of life as an MEP, and she is confident in her ability to influence colleagues, even if it can at times be difficult to reach an agreement.

“In the parliament, you sometimes need a laurel wreath. Most colleagues you can work with in a highly professional way, with good cooperation. However, if someone with whom you have an arrangement then retreats from what was arranged, then it’s not only the first but the last time you make such an arrangement. If I want something, I know how to get a majority. Even when I’m working in a coalition, I’m known for that. I know that if I’m convinced that I have a good proposal, then I will get it through.”

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