... overhelming majority of the European citizens still have strong feelings for their national identity and are deeply attached to the state to hich they belong. National interests still represent a reality in the day-to-day business of the European Union. Under these conditions, the future political Union ill have to develop from donard to upard, from citizens to states and from states to the Community, and the procedures of building to be those already efficient in the domains here ere applied the method of co-ordination and enhanced co-operation among the Member States. 3. Reforming the European Unions institutions Applying these methods supposes keeping a balance of the European institutions that proved to be efficient in decision-making, in order to raise the legitimacy of these institutions in front of the citizens of the European Union. The most adequate ay to defend the European interests is by increasing the role of the European Commission. The President of this institution should be commonly elected by the European Parliament and the European Council in order to ensure its entire legitimacy in front of the Community. As far as the number of Commissioners is concerned, Romania supports the principle one state, one Commissioner. Yet, a limitation of the size of the Commission can be accepted, provided that for the countries that ill not have a Commissioner of the respective nationality during a term, some specialized task-forces should be created, on specific matters, that have an urgency. As for the Commissions role as Guardian of treaties, in the future, this institution might gain responsibilities, in the line of ensuring the necessary coherence beteen the intergovernmental and Community sectors, meaning, inter alia, that the ones responsible for CFSP and JHA in the Commission ill be the partners of the High Representative for ESCP, and not his replacers. The President of the Commission could also receive a role of facilitator for unblocking the procedure situations beteen the Council and the Parliament, hen the conciliation procedure has no result. The European Commission should have the monopoly of the legislative initiative in adopting the Community legislation. The Commission should also have an increased role in defining the relations beteen institutions and their implementation. The European Parliament should have increased poers through the extension of the co-decision procedure ith the Council and to grant the Commissions President the competence to intervene as a facilitator in case of an institutional blockage. The Parliament could also elect the President of the Commission, by majority, at the proposal of the European Council. The Parliament could also have attributes regarding the budget, through eliminating the difference beteen the compulsory and non-compulsory expenditures. As for the National Parliaments, Romania supports the idea of establishing a Committee of the National Parliaments, according to the model of the Economic and Social Committee and of the Committee of the Regions. The definition of the role of this ne body should start from the model of the future Union. There are to options a minimal one, consisting in the creation of a ne committee ith the same position as the previous ones, hich ill have a consulting role on problems concerning the intergovernmental co-operation e.g. consultative advice on a European common strategy, and a maximal one, in the sense of providing important competence by taking over some legislative functions from the Council, in co-decision ith the European Parliament e.g. a future joint budget for CFSP. In Romanias vision, the Council should continue to be the institution that reflects the interests of the Member States ithin the Community, but its activity must be rationalized, and its functions must be more clearly defined. In the condition of the developing and strengthening the economic-financial ... Download