Open up 'black box Brussels'

"Many citizens percieve Brussels to be a black box. We need to open up this box," said EPP Group Chairman, Manfred Weber, on Monday in Brussels. Weber opened the meeting of the EPP Network of National Parliamentarians dealing with European Affairs.

"It is very important to reach out to people," Weber said, acknowledging that many people identify Brussels with regulations and meetings behind closed doors. One example of reaching out was the campaign with Spitzenkandidaten like Jean-Claude Juncker. "This made Brussels more visible," Weber stated. He also wanted to consider changing the working methods of the European Parliament now that the European Commission has changed its structure with a stronger role for Vice-Presidents.

Participants from 12 Member States were present at the meeting, among them European Parliament Vice-President Ramón Luis Valcarcel. The Network meeting was chaired by EPP Group Vice-Chairwoman Esther de Lange. "Working together at all levels is important for our common goals. It is not about Brussels telling Member States what to do, or the other way around: we need each other to make progress in Europe," Esther de Lange stated.

Francis Delpérée, member of the Belgium Chamber of Representatives and Professor at the Catholic University of Louvain, was one of the many participants who asked for closer ties between the European Parliament and National Parliaments. "We should meet more often," he said. "We do not need to change Treaties, we need to change our working methods."

The EPP Group first established a network with National Parliamentarians in 2006. The Group is happy that subsidiarity has now also become a focus of the new European Commission.

The next meeting of the Chairpersons of EPP parliamentary groups in National Parliaments will take place on 17 November in the European Parliament in Brussels.