United for peace” “” “

A great ceremony to sign the future European Constitution in the name of 25 States and 450 million citizens: the leaders of the EU member countries are expected to convene in the Sala degli Orazi e Curiazi on the Campidoglio in Rome on Friday 29 October. Once they have they added their signature at the foot of the document, they will then have to take steps to ensure its ratification at the national level. So the Union has reached a new target, but is immediately called to tackle a further challenge. Gianni Borsa, SIR correspondent in Brussels, has discussed the question with Ferdinando Riccardi , executive editor of Agence Europe, a daily news bulletin on the EU and a witness since 1953 of the process of European integration. Does the signing of the Constitutional Treaty represent a new “milestone” for the process of integration, as was the signing of the EEC and Euratom Treaties in 1957? “First of all I reject, and vigorously, the widespread tendency to tell people that initially Europe was a purely economic construct, and that today it is finally passing to the political dimension. The misunderstanding arises from the fact that the first European Community, even before the EEC and Euratom, was that of coal and steel (ECSC); people think therefore of a kind of sectorial economic agreement. That is totally false. Steel and coal were then the basis of armaments (tanks, warplanes, artillery shells etc.), the nerve of war, and finally they were placed under a supranational authority that took precedence over governments. It’s as if Israelis and Palestinians today were to place their chemical and nuclear programmes in common and create a joint authority to manage them!”. So Europe was united above all to make peace? “The truth is that ever since that day the wars that for centuries had bedevilled Europe became impossible. After having accepted the Schuman plan, Konrad Adenauer sent a short message to its promoter, Jean Monnet, with the words: ‘If this plan succeeds, my life won’t have been in vain’. The ‘Community method’, which took the place of the old forms of ‘intergovernmental cooperation’, changed the face of Europe. In the past a war in Europe had broken out approximately every 20 years: given my age, I would now be in my third war… I think therefore that the signing of the Constitutional Treaty will be a significant step on the road opened a half century ago”. What are the most significant points of the new Constitution? “The most significant points are essentially three: first, the enunciation of the principles regarding the nature of the Union (liberty, democracy, plurality of parties…) and the rights of citizens (the Charter of Fundamental Rights forms part of the Constitution); second, the far-reaching institutional changes that reinforce the powers of Parliament and improve the functioning of all the institutions (extension of majority decisions, more effective and transparent procedures, longer-term presidencies); and third, the decisive (even if not yet definitive) progress made in the fields of foreign and defence policy, with the creation of a European ministry of foreign affairs and a common defence force”. What are the weak points of the Treaty? “The weak points concern the continuing existence of the rule of unanimity in some important sectors (such as taxation) and the procedure for reform. National Constitutions can be amended by a majority; the European Constitution can only be revised with the agreement of all States, making any further development difficult”. Will Turkey become a member of the Union? “The problem of Turkey, unfortunately, was posed in the wrong way. Both legally and politically, it seems impossible to reject the opening of negotiations, because many promises have been made and Turkey has respected the conditions laid down. But it is equally impossible to affirm at this time whether Turkey is or is not European and to evaluate the repercussions of her possible membership on the future of the EU. In my view, the only solution is to open negotiations to define future relations, which could be either membership or some other form of close and special relations with the EU. Negotiations ought to clarify the many aspects that still remain controversial, which concern not just the EU but also, and perhaps even primarily, Turkey itself: has Turkey carefully assessed the degree of sovereignty she will have to place in common by entering the Union? I would not exclude the possibility that she herself might in the end opt for a form of relations other than membership”.