On This Day

Margaret Thatcher becomes the first presiding chair of the European Council to appear before the European Parliament to report on the discussions held between the leaders of the member states.

The European Council, which met in Madrid on 15 and 16 December 1995, made decisions regarding employment, the single currency, the Intergovernmental Conference, and the enlargement for the accession of Central and Eastern European countries and Mediterranean countries.
The European Council considers job creation as the main social, economic, and political objective of the European Union and its member states, and declares its firm determination to continue making every possible effort to reduce unemployment. Furthermore, it approved the scenario for the transition to the single currency, unequivocally confirming that this stage will begin on 1 January 1999. At the same time, it decided to name the currency to be used from 1 January 1999 “Euro”.
The European Council continued its deliberations on the future of Europe, which began in Essen and continued in Cannes and Formentor. In this context, after expressing its satisfaction with the report of the Reflection Group, the European Council decided to launch the Intergovernmental Conference on 29 March 1996, in order to create the political and institutional conditions for adapting the European Union to current and future needs, especially in view of the next enlargement. For six months, the members of the Reflection Group have been working on the mandate of the European Council to prepare the ground for the revision of the Treaty at the 1996 Conference and for any other improvement in the functioning of the Union, in a spirit of openness and democracy.
Finally, a meeting was held between the Heads of State and Government and the Foreign Ministers of the associated countries of Central and Eastern Europe, including the Baltic states, as well as Cyprus and Malta, where, among other things, issues concerning the pre-accession strategy were discussed. For accession, certain criteria must be met. These criteria (known as the Copenhagen criteria) were established by the Copenhagen European Council in 1993 and strengthened by the Madrid European Council. The criteria are: stability of institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for and protection of minorities; a functioning market economy and the capacity to cope with competitive pressure and market forces within the EU; ability to take on the obligations of membership, including the capacity to effectively implement the rules, standards and policies that make up the body of EU law (the acquis), and adherence to the aims of political, economic and monetary union.

The European Parliament approves legislation to establish a mechanism that will allow the suspension of budget payments to member states that violate the rule of law.
MEPs argue that this legal act is necessary to protect the EU’s financial interests and its fundamental values. The Parliament is increasingly concerned about attacks on democracy and the rule of law in certain member states.