Convention discusses simplifying EU instruments and procedures

The European Convention session yesterday and on Thursday dealt primarily with the simplification of the EU's instruments and procedures, the Department of Information said yesterday.

The representative of the Maltese government, Rev. Prof. Peter Serracino Inglott, suggested that the future Union should seek to lay down only framework laws and should avoid the exigency of rigid uniformity in their application. These, however, would need to have two complementary systems.

The first is a control system needed to oversee that the legislation adopted to implement the European framework law remains faithful to it.

The second is an exchange-of-information system, needed to ensure that knowledge of best practices was duly and dutifully exchanged between all member countries.

Monitoring and comparison of developments in application need to be an essential feature of all European legislation, he was quoted as saying.

The convention was also addressed by Michael Frendo, one of the two parliamentary representatives, who said a new treaty should contain a catalogue of instruments available to the EU, with an indication of their respective juridical effect.

He said EU laws should respect the internal legislative procedures of each member state.