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Convergence on the fight on terrorism and the revival” ” of the integration process. But negative signals also emerge” “The Europe that is about to close its doors for the summer holidays is a Europe on "alternating current". Positive signals alternate with worrying developments. But at the same time the urgent need for a reinforced political process in response to the pressures placed on the EU by its member states and by events outside its frontiers is tending to grow. ” “” “
UnitED AGAINST terrorism. EU foreign ministers met at Brussels under the British presidency on Monday 18 July and showed greater convergence on the question of the fight against terrorism. The first summit after the London bombings produced a statement that called for “maximum collaboration between member states in the fight against terrorism”, in order to “identify the terrorists, protect potential objectives and prepare for an attack”. The foreign ministers confirmed the commitment, already outlined by the Commission in May, to reach “a common project by December to combat radicalisation and recruitment by terrorist groups”. According to UK Foreign Minister Jack Straw, who chaired the meeting, “time has run out for excuses about terrorism”. According to the head of the Foreign Office, there do not exist direct links “between the war in Iraq and the terrorist attacks that have struck many countries, including most recently Turkey”, a country, he noted, that did not support the military action of the coalition in Iraq but “has had an appreciable attitude in the war on terror”. Straw seemed convinced that the time is ripe to open negotiations for Ankara’s accession in October. Reviviing integration. The debate on the revival of integration, made all the more pressing after the thumbs down to the Constitution, the budget impasse, and the doubts on enlargement and on the Treaty of Schengen that followed the terrorist attacks in London, thus seems to be hotting up in European institutions. The governments of Belgium and Luxembourg thus intend to make proposals with a view to the informal summit of the EU in October which will be dedicated to discussing the European social model. Their respective premiers GUnter Verhofstadt and Jean-Claude Juncker recently met in the Grand-Duchy and would now like to involve the governments of other countries on issues such as labour, training, social cohesion, and the problem of immigration. To this is added the proposal made by the seven heads of State of Austria, Finland, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Poland and Portugal in a statement issued last week, aimed at confirming the virtues of the European Constitution and the great EU objectives, and involving citizens more closely in the process. some controversial signals. But negative signals are not lacking, either. The Constitutional Court of Slovakia has suspended the validity of the ratification of the Constitutional Treaty, approved by the national parliament in May. According to the spokesman of the Court, Stefan Nemeth, “the judges accepted an appeal presented by a group of Slovak citizens who claim their rights have been violated by the decision to subject the ratification to Parliament and not to a popular referendum”. The question can be resolved, but it is undoubtedly a further thorn in the side of the Union. To this is added the fact that the application of the European arrest warrant has been suspended in Germany. “The Commission regrets that Germany no longer has a law for the implementation of the European arrest warrant”, explained Friso Roscam Abbing, spokesman of the Executive. The ruling of unconstitutionality expressed by the German court is a decision “of no use in the fight against terrorism”. In Brussels, on the other hand, an agreement on the EU budget is now on the cards: the competent ministers reached a provisional accord on 15 July that involves fairly swingeing cuts in EU resources and investments. YES TO THE CONSTITUTION, DOUBTS ABOUT TURKEY. Eurobarometer, the EU polling agency, has published the results of a survey among 30,000 citizens in the 25 member states and in the candidate states, conducted between 9 May and 14 June. The findings show that 61% of citizens are favourable to the Constitution, although the percentage of “yes” opinions is falling in relation to previous polls. 52% of those interviewed, however, expressed their opposition to Turkey’s membership of the Union. “The support that the citizens give to Europe represents an enormous political capital that must not be discounted commented the Swedish Margot Wallström, Vice-President of the Commission -. Europeans need to be more involved in the political process and the challenges that are of major concern to them are globalization, unemployment and social problems”.
