Towards a different Europe” “

“We begin our session on the eve of a military intervention which sees Europeans, both its peoples and leaders, divided. Let’s not close our eyes to Europe today, nor give up our commitment to make it different”. So said President Valery Giscard d’Estaing in opening the Convention’s 18th plenary session, which took place concurrently with a crisis that will inevitably have repercussions also on its work. For an analysis of the state of play of the Convention, its future deadlines and the possible impact of the EU’s manifest lack of a common external policy on the process of European reform and enlargement, SirEurope met Nikolaus Meyer-Landrut , German diplomat and spokesman of the Convention. How is the Convention going? “After a year’s work, a good deal of progress has been made also in sectors that even twelve months ago were beset by controversy and doubt. For example, we have reached general consensus on the fact that we are called to present a European Constitution, and that it will replace the existing Treaties. Real progress has also been made in the clarification of tasks, in the simplification of procedures, in the role of the national parliaments, and in the integration of the Charter of fundamental rights in the body of the Treaty. The same goes for cooperation in the field of justice, freedom and internal affairs, with the articles presented just this week. It’s undeniable, however, that such major issues as the institutional architecture of Europe and its common external and security policy still need to be tackled.” What predictions can you make about the Convention’s future? “In early March, the Presidium submitted to the plenary session a programme of work in which it is affirmed that all the constitutional texts (preamble, articles, annexes) will be presented by the end of April. We are now in a phase of production and proposal, with the plenary assembly debating the drafts already presented. There are grounds for thinking that by the end of April public opinion will for the first time have an overall preview of what could be the future European Constitution. We will then enter a crucial phase – probably in May – when the Presidium will amend its drafts in the light of the debate within the Convention. The objective is that of arriving at the final deliberations by June, as called for by the Copenhagen Summit. Within this context, the institutional questions should be tackled after mid-April, whereas the question of external policy, also due to the current international situation, will be discussed last. As regards common external and security policy, it’s clear that the Convention is called to formulate proposals; but we need to await a more suitable moment to be able to tackle this issue with greater serenity. That said, it should be explained that the Convention’s calendar does not depend on itself: if a few further weeks are needed to improve the quality of its proposals, that would also be beneficial for the intergovernmental conference which could then work on a better basis”. Iraqi crisis, failure of European foreign policy. What impact will it have on the process of EU integration? “We are in a period and situation that will have an influence on the future of Europe. It’s too early however to say what kind of influence this will be. The two options remain open: either the people and their leaders interpret this phase as a necessary spur to do more in terms of foreign policy, or they conclude that Europe is not yet ready for this kind of level of political integration ( Giscard has admitted that the shared hypothesis of an EU Ministry of External Affairs seems at the present time to be fading, in favour of a less ambitious scheme: that of a European Minister for the coordination of external and defence policies, editorial note). As president Giscard declared, we cannot realistically give the go-ahead to a public debate on common external policy so long as the positions between Europeans remain so divided”.