Declarations of intent

The most explicit was GRAHAM WATSON , English MEP, head of the Liberal Democratic group, who called “bizarre” the fact that “a declaration should be discussed without a draft being available”. On Wednesday 14 March the European Parliament debated, together with the representatives of the EU Commission and Council, the “Declaration on the Future of Europe” that is due to be approved during the extraordinary summit in Berlin on 25 March to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the signing of the founding Treaties of the European Community. PEACE, DIGNITY OF THE PERSON, SOLIDARITY. The Assembly of the 27, meeting in plenary session in Strasbourg this week, was the theatre of a lively debate in which many suggestions were made, but also many doubts expressed about the fact that it seems we are heading towards a text of the Declaration that is defined as “minimalist”, “vague”, and one that would cite “neither the Christian roots of Europe, nor the Constitutional Treaty”. HANS-GERT Poettering, President of the Parliament, introduced the discussion by declaring that the Declaration “could form a milestone on the road of a stronger Europe that looks to the future”. The text, now being defined by a select group of experts and diplomats and of which not even a rough draft has yet been circulated, ought to comprise four chapters, according to Poettering (who is personally following the drafting process). The first chapter would sum up all that has been achieved since 1957 and “should contain a particular mention of peace, prosperity and stability, as also the consolidation of democracy and the rule of law”. The second “would treat the main aspects of European unification and cooperation: equality of rights and obligations between member states, transparency and subsidiarity”. Chapter three would enunciate “the values on which European unification rests”, in primis “the human being, whose dignity is inalienable”, and solidarity. The last part of the document “ought to evoke the efforts made by the EU at the internal and external level, attributing particular attention to energy policy and the protection of the climate, external policy and civil rights”. A CLEAR AND CONCISE TEXT. The representative of the German government, which now holds the revolving Presidency of the European Council, FRANK-WALTER STEINMEIER , underlined the need to reach “a concise text that transmits a clear message to citizens”. According to the German Minister, it ought to “pay tribute to all that has been achieved together”, including peace, economic prosperity, social cohesion, and the reunification of the continent. “The chapter on the future challenges, for which common solutions will have to be found, will touch on climate change, energy, security and defence policy, the fight against terrorism and organized crime and common solutions to clandestine immigration”. According to the Swede MARGOT WALLSTRÖM , Vice-President of the Commission, the Berlin document “should reflect the genius of the Eu”, which is “able to reconcile the particular with the general, the individual with the collective, and to promote economic growth in a strong social framework”. “WE MUST AVOID BANALITY”. The German MEP JO LEINEN , chair of the constitutional affairs committee of the Ep, said “it ought not to be too hard to reach an agreement on the chapters of the Declaration relating to the successes of the past and the founding values” of Europe. “More complicated will be the task of describing what is specific to the Union” on the world scene: he suggests that emphasis be given to “the community method that distinguishes the Eu from all the other international organizations”. Party leaders and many deputies intervened in the debate. Some objected that the Ep lacked a rough draft of the Declaration as a basis for commenting on it; others said that a wider public consultation would have been needed. According to some MEPs, it’s essential to “avoid banality”; others warned of forgetting “the problems that are on the table today and that are blocking integration”. The leader of the People’s Party group in Strasbourg, the French JOSEPH DAUL , listed the “five main challenges” that await the European Community 50 years after its “baptism”: demography, globalization, multipolarity, energy and climate warming, fight against terrorism. The German MARTIN SCHULZ, leader of the Socialists, said that, in the absence of a draft of the Declaration, “we can speak of the context rather than of the text itself”. He then added: “We all realise we are at a crossroads: either we take the road towards greater integration, or we return to national self-interest”. For his part DANIEL COHN-BENDIT , German, head of the Greens, is in favour of remembering “the EU successes obtained with integration”; but “in celebrating prosperity and rights, we ought not to forget those who still live in poverty and are deprived of these same rights”.