Mr. Francis Jacob:

There is a more fundamental point, which the Deputy and others have raised.

It is what happens if Ireland has 11 seats in maintaining its influence. Obviously, it is difficult. At the same time the system in the European Parliament is not just a simple majority-minority system. There is a separation of powers in that it is a Parliament in which there is not a permanent majority or minority. It varies from issue to issue, which gives great opportunities for different coalitions. It means that, for example, on agriculture the Irish Members will make alliances with French and many other nationalities. On issues of importance to Ireland there will be allies within the political groups within the Parliament.

There will probably be 20 committees next time - I imagine there will be the same number of committees and possibly even one or two more - and 11 Members will have to cover them. Their staff will have to cover the committees they cannot attend. It means that it is even more important to identify the national interests that must be defended by coalitions with others within the European Parliament. It does not vote along simple national lines. It rarely votes with all German Members on one side or all French Members on another. They are normally divided, which gives many possibilities for making coalitions. This is probably not a satisfactory answer, but it is the only one I can give. There are many possibilities. This is a very open Parliament and it is a question of identifying the key issues which need to be defended and what is the best way of doing this within each political family.

On European Parliament and national parliament relations, this will be the key in the future. The European Parliament obviously has many new powers. It is a very powerful parliament, but it is more remote from citizens than national parliaments, which is why these two tiers of democratic accountability are complementary. That sometimes sounds theoretical, but the key will be to try to make it work on specific issues in a practical way, in some of the ways I mentioned. That applies particularly at political level, but it is also very important at staff level.

One of the important elements of my job and those of my counterparts in the member states is to follow the debate within the national parliaments. As the committee knows, I attend quite a few of its meetings, to which I attach great importance. I work very closely with, for example, Mr. Derek Dignam, the committee's representative in Brussels with the directorate for relations with national parliaments, who will be coming here next week for the meeting of the Conference of Parliamentary Committees for Union Affairs, COSAC, and, where necessary, the sectoral committees of the Parliament. If something comes up in the Irish Parliament which I think is of interest to a sectoral committee, I try to bring it to the attention of my colleagues there. It is a drop in the ocean, but it can help a little. If there is any way I can help in that regard, I am very willing to do it because it is an important practical backup to the political work the Irish MEPs and the committee do.

There was also a question on promoting gender balance. Obviously, it boils down to individual decisions at national level. The European Parliament cannot impose it in European Parliament elections. There have been many resolutions in the Parliament on this subject, encouraging individual parties and political groups, especially when there are list systems where it is easier to have a balance between younger and older candidates and a gender balance, and national parliaments to take it more seriously. Where the Parliament will have a big impact on gender issues is on the choice of the next Commission. As the committee knows, the Parliament must first vote on the President of the Commission and can say yes or no. Afterwards, while it cannot vote on individual Commissioners, it can vote on the Commission as a whole. One of the preconditions is that if there is not a 50:50 balance, there is an adequate number of women candidates and the maximum degree of gender balance among all the national Members.