More impetus after the pause?

The institutions of the European Union at Brussels, Strasbourg and Luxembourg have also closed their doors for the summer holidays. A series of important questions remain in a state of abeyance; they will require a solution from September onwards. The list is long: the constitutional process; future Eu enlargement; the involvement of citizens in the European democratic process; the debate on the creation of a space of liberty and security; and that on the use of European funds, with which important ethical, social and economic questions are bound up (we may think of funds for research, or those allocated to education, innovation, infrastructures and agriculture). THE DEBATE ON THE CONSTITUTION. The European Council expressed its view on the Constitution in mid-June. It urged that the political debate be continued at the national and European level (also through Plan D promoted by the Commission). It also established that the heads of state and of government would take a decision on the ratifications of the Constitution by 2008, so as to identify a solution prior to the elections to the European Parliament in June 2009. It is obvious that the internal situation of some countries, and the elections due to be held in France (and elsewhere), suggested a longer time frame. Germany, which will hold the revolving Presidency of the Council in the first half of 2007, has been given a mandate to organize an extraordinary summit to mark the 50th anniversary of the Treaties instituting the EEC (dating to 25 March 1957). This summit – explained Austrian Chancellor WOLFANG SCHÜSSEL , under whose chairmanship the last European Council was held – ought to give rise to a solemn declaration to revive the process of European integration and reaffirm the values and ambitions of the European Community”. EUROPEAN SPIRIT AND CONCRETE RESULTS. The leaders gathered in Brussels acknowledged, on the other hand, that the impasse in which the Union finds itself after the French and Dutch rejection of the Constitution, has not only acted as a break on the ratification of the Constitution, but has also marked a weakening of the “European spirit” and an overall slowdown of EU policies, thus increasing yet further the doubts of citizens in the “common home”. It is no accident if anti-European, nationalist and xenophobic parties and movements have been reinforced throughout the continent in recent times; some of them have even attained government responsibilities. That’s why the Council of the 25 pledged greater attention to the concrete aspects of integration and a determination to multiply the “results” in favour of European citizens, workers and families. “We are inaugurating today – explained Schüssel on 16 June – a twin-track policy: on the one hand, we are committed to defining the institutional framework of the Union, comprising the fundamental chapter of the Constitution; on the other hand, we are leaving behind us the pause for reflection and entering that of concrete projects and results”. The Chancellor’s hope is that the EU “may resume its course”, with one eye on the institutional engineering and the other on the peoples, “their daily needs, and the concerns expressed by public opinion on the present and future of Europe”. THE COMMUNITY JIGSAW. The enlargement of the frontiers also characterises this phase in political debate within the Union. As far as Romania and Bulgaria are concerned, EU accession seems to be now on the cards, even if the final decision will only be taken in the autumn. The date for their entry is provisionally fixed for 1st January 2007, but could slip a year. EU Council, Parliament and Commission believe it is advisable in any case to clarify the constitutional framework before any further enlargements; the concept of “capacity for absorption” has meantime been reinforced: that means a commitment to verify whether the Union is ready to open its doors to new members without compromising the Community structure (institutions, law, budget….), while at the same time avoiding any “dilution” of the Union’s identity, fundamental values and objectives. The new President of the Council, the Finnish MATTI VANHANEN , has explained in this regard that “once negotiations have been begun with a country, future membership is expected. But the candidate countries must prove they respect all the necessary criteria for entry; that goes especially for Turkey and for Croatia. At the same time, the Union must reflect on its capacity for absorption”. The questions under discussion clearly seem interlinked: each piece is indispensable to realize the Community jigsaw. The process of integration has a number of crucial appointments in the months ahead, beginning with the Tampere summit (20-22 September) on the programme of The Hague, aimed at defining a “European space of justice, liberty and security”, and then the new debate in the European Parliament on the Seventh Framework Programme for research. In this case what’s at stake are Eu funds, including those unfortunately allocated in the first vote to experiments on stem cells.