International

he SP sees the announcement by European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker that national parliaments may play no role in the debate on CETA, the trade treaty with Canada, as a “coup d’état”. Not only is Juncker in this way bypassing the democratic process in the member states, he is also showing his unwillingness to wait for the official advice of the European Court of Justice.

SP Euro-MP Anne-Marie Mineur describes herself as “furious” with the EU Council chair. “The treaty is too big and too far-reaching for the contribution of national parliaments to be ignored, but that’s just what Juncker is doing,” she says. “Following the clear signal from the British people you’d think that Juncker might apply the brakes and work on a more democratic and transparent Europe. But that’s not what he’s doing. On the contrary, he’s putting his foot on the accelerator.”

Mineur is in addition outraged that Juncker has not seen fit to wait for the advice from the European Court of Justice. “The treaty with Singapore, which is closely related to the CETA, is the first trade treaty that the European Commission has concluded since the Lisbon Treaty came into force,” she explains. “The ECJ is working on an official opinion regarding the division of powers, but the Commission doesn’t want to wait. You have to ask yourself whose interests Juncker actually represents. In any case it certainly isn’t those of the people.”