Row erupts over Prodi’s speech delay

Date: 20/01/2000

By Gareth Harding

A FURIOUS row has broken out between MEPs and the European Commission over why President Romano Prodi was forced to cancel his 'State of the Union' address to the Parliament earlier this week.

The leaders of most political groups accused Prodi of failing to draw up a programme worthy of debate and told the Commission chief to come back next month to present his five-year blueprint for the EU.

"We need a solid basis on which to debate the Commission's plans for the next five years," said Christian Democrat leader Hans-Gert Poettering.

However, Prodi's office has strenuously denied being caught on the hop. Spokesman Ricardo Levi said the president was "perfectly ready" to outline his ambitions for the next five years, but had agreed to put off his keynote speech to "accommodate the wishes of Parliament".

Socialist MEPs placed the blame for the delay squarely on the shoulders of the assembly's Christian Democrat President Nicole Fontaine, who they accused of unilaterally deciding to put off the debate.

Group leader Enrique Barón Crespo said Fontaine had "sabotaged an important step in restoring confidence in the EU" and called for the debate to go ahead as originally planned.

Despite protestations of innocence from Fontaine, sources close to Prodi confirmed that the Parliament president had mooted the idea of delaying the keynote speech before she had received the green light to do so from political group leaders.

A furious row has broken out between MEPs and the European Commission over why President Romano Prodi was forced to cancel his 'State of the Union' address to the Parliament.