The Symbolic Politics of European Integration by Jacob Krumrey

Author:Jacob Krumrey
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Springer International Publishing, Cham

The contrast to this extraordinarily ambitious self-image was the Council of Europe’s Consultative Assembly. When the Common Assembly debated whether the two bodies could interact on an equal footing, the Dutch representative Marga Klompé put it clearly: “The truth is that, at the parliamentary level, there can be no true reciprocity between our two organizations; the too different nature of the two Assemblies prevents it.”51 Likewise, the Common Assembly did not admit Council of Europe observers in order to underline that it was not an international assembly, where observers were common, but a sovereign parliament.52 The Assembly’s own legal services furthermore declared that “if legitimate doubt arises with respect to a question concerning the status of this Assembly one must seek the solution in traditional parliamentary law and not in unfounded comparisons with commissions, assemblies or organizations of an international character.”53

With such a desire for distinction, even ostensibly administrative matters were given a political twist, especially as the Common Assembly, for all its talk of sovereignty, was completely dependent on the Council of Europe’s infrastructure. The clash between Monnet and Paris in the run-up to the inauguration had been the prelude to a generally contentious relationship. An incident from 1953 gives a taste of how petty the jealousies could become. In the middle of a Common Assembly sitting, the French Socialist Guy Mollet inquired why the proceedings were being translated into English. The Council of Europe had been in session earlier that day, and the English interpretation continued even though English was not among the five official languages of the ECSC. Spaak ordered the English interpretation to be stopped but backpedaled later, reportedly due to publicity considerations vis-à-vis US journalists.54

Each year the two bodies came together for a joint session, which was the only palpable result of the Eden plan . These sessions were carefully choreographed, designed to strike a balance between both bodies’ common commitment, and their competing claim, to Europe. The protocol was devised jointly by the administration of both bodies. There was no agenda; nor were any votes taken. The chair alternated between the presidents of both assemblies. The Consultative Assembly’s clerks sat to the right of the chair; the Common Assembly’s clerks, to the left. The timing was such that the joint session could not be seen as the conclusion of either body’s session.55 In other words, each assembly reserved for itself a final say on the matters they had discussed. During the joint sessions, members and staff of the Common Assembly wore a specially designed cockade in the colors of the six member states’ flags to distinguish them from their peers.56

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