In a mood of uncertainty

It’s a summit taking place in a mood of uncertainty. The meeting of heads of state and government of the European Union, long scheduled for 21-22 June, was supposed to overcome the impasse over the European Constitution, signed in 2004 but rejected in referenda by French and Dutch voters in 2005. The current German Presidency of the EU had set itself the objective of defining a roadmap, or precise calendar, for approving a “simplified” text in time for the European elections in June 2009. But diverging interests and sometimes conflicting proposals of the member states have meant that the stakes were still open when the summit began. MERKEL, THE MEDIATOR. “In the Berlin Declaration of 25 March the member states reaffirmed their wish to arrive at the next elections to the European Parliament with a new Treaty”. ANGELA MERKEL had sent a letter to the leaders of the 27 on the eve of the summit with a programme of the meeting and a list of the key points that need to be tackled. The German Chancellor, who chairs the European Council in the first half of this year, reminded her “colleagues” of the “important challenges that await us, and that require of the Union a capacity to act and political and legal “legitimisation”. “After a two-year pause for reflection – continues the letter – public opinion awaits the necessary reforms from us”: and so “the time has come to adopt the road map for the reform of the treaties”. Final agreement is awaited from the summit. German Foreign Minister FRANK-WALTER STEINMEIER underlined that “the central theme of the Council is the process of reforms of the EU”. He also recalled that “there are various questions that need to be decided, such as the form that the treaty ought to take, the symbols (anthem and flag), the value to be assigned to the Charter of Fundamental Rights” and the “pillars that support the structure” of the Community. But during the summit – which will comprise official sessions, working lunches and bilateral meetings – problems of external policy (Middle East, Balkans, Russia…), the moratorium on the death sentence, energy, the economy and not least the environment, will also be tackled. “CAPACITY TO ACT”. One conviction has progressively grown: namely, that the problems that need to be solved with regard to the Treaty are more numerous than had been anticipated. They include: the form itself of the treaty, after deciding it was better to stop speaking of a “Constitution”; its scale and content; the question whether the Charter of Fundamental Right should be incorporated in it or not; the extension of the majority vote; the role of the national Parliaments; “reinforced cooperation, i.e. the option of giving rise to a “two-speed Europe”. Little interest, on the other hand, has been shown in the question of the Preamble and the part dedicated to the fundamental values and aims of the Union. The President of the Commission, JOSÉ MANUEL BARROSO , did however make an appeal: “Please let us not put at risk the progress so far made in European integration”. The Portuguese statesman had presented the Executive’s position on the summit at a briefing in Strasbourg on Tuesday 19 June, asking the heads of state and of government to “strive to find a compromise” that would “endow the EU with the capacity to act”. “Everyone is agreed that rapid decisions are required, that reforms are needed – Barroso had stressed -. And it seems to me that all countries are committed to this”. Barroso, using a term similar to that used by French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British premier Tony Blair, had spoken of a “reformed treaty”, but one that would maintain “intact the profile achieved on the institutional balances”: hence on the majority vote, long-term President of the EU, and common external affairs minister. “Re-opening discussion on one question would jeopardize the whole packet of reforms already defined and necessary to make the European Community work”, he said. THE MANDATE OF THE IGC. According to Barroso, the summit will become “the moment in which to distinguish between what is substance and what is superfluous”. The line that seemed to prevail to tackle the problems on the table is the convening of an Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) with delimited powers in the second half of 2007 with the task of discussing unresolved problems. The head of the Commission, however, declined to pass judgement on the positions supported in recent months both by Poland (contrary to the method of voting with double majority in Council) and Great Britain (London does not intend to “communitize” the sector of justice and does not want the Charter of Fundamental Rights to be included in the Treaty), but said he “agreed with the need to simplify the decision-making methods of the Union”. “We must demonstrate that the EU with 27 member states is able to take important decisions. Otherwise who will explain this failure to citizens?”. On the option of realizing “A two-speed Europe” Barroso maintained: “It could happen, as it already has in some sectors. But this must be the exception, not the rule”.