[An Nahar] European Parliament President Martin Schulz on Tuesday criticized EU member states for a loss of public trust in EU institutions.Schulz, who is running for the top job in the European Commission, said the European Council was slowing down political integration within the EU.
"If the Council is the most powerful body and the popularity of the EU is falling, does that not concern you?," he said of the powerful body representing the EU's 28 member governments.
Schulz said the Council's final say in the appointment of the president of the European Commission, the EU's executive, amounted to a "lack of democracy" that had eroded public confidence in the EU as a whole.
Under current rules the Parliament, the only EU institution directly elected by voters, can put forward candidates for the role of Commission president, but the final decision rests with national leaders in the European Council.
Granting Parliament the final say in the choice of Commission president would "strengthen EU democracy", Schulz said during an often heated public debate in the European Parliament building.
Schulz made his comments in the lead-up to the EU elections in May, which have turned into a referendum between pro- and anti-European groupings with bad boy parties expected to do better than in the past.
Schulz also denounced what he called "the blame-game" by member governments, saying national leaders were quick to take credit for successes in the EU, but blamed it for failures.
Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, who will stand down in November, denied the Council lacked democratic legitimacy but said there was a general "crisis of confidence" in Europe.
He called for a vigorous debate on the EU's future, rather than the kind of "institutional engineering" advocated by those wanting to grant more powers to Parliament.