Coordinated responses

Intensive negotiations, open political debate, so many projects to pursue and so many decisions to take: these are frenetic days in the headquarters of the EU institutions. From the economic crisis to external relations, from climate change to the Treaty of Lisbon, meetings and events are rapidly succeeding each other: “We are faced by fundamental challenges and coordinated responses are needed”, Nicolas Sarkozy, current President of the EU Council, has been repeating for months. In a few weeks time, Sarkozy will pass the rotating Presidency of the EU to the government of the Czech Republic: a transition that is arousing some doubts. “Anti-crisis marathon”. The process for approving the coordinated measures relating to the economic and financial crisis began on Monday 1st December with the meeting of the Eurogroup, followed on the following day by that of Ecofin. After a process of preparation that took up October and November, the EU passed to the decision-making phase at the start of December. The economic and financial ministers of the member states expressed a substantial go-ahead to the measures suggested by the Commission last week; at the same time the need was reiterated for a lowering of interest rates, and an interest-rate decision by the European Central Bank in Frankfurt is awaited on 4 December. A debate between the three EU institutions – Council, Commission and Parliament – on the same issue has also been entered on the order of the day for the plenary of the European Parliament on 3 December. Lastly, the decisions on the European anti-crisis plan, to be taken by the summit of heads of state and of government in Brussels on 11-12 December, are awaited. This plan is understood as a common “tool box”, containing both EU instruments (resources of the European Investments Bank, 30 billion) and national funds (170 billion). EU budget and national funds. Naturally, in such delicate phases, some paradoxes that are always present in the life of the European Union are being confirmed. Several voices (politicians, mass media, opinion leaders), for instance, have emphasized that the resources placed on the table by the EU are too modest in relation to the gravity of the economic and financial situation. Exponents in Brussels, on the other hand, have pointed out that that the EU has, all things considered, a fairly modest budget (1% of European GDP), precisely because each year member states block any increase in the Community budget. Contrariwise, there are those who question whether it is right to multiply state interventions in the economy, also at the risk of compromising the free market and national budgets. That’s why the European Commissioner for Monetary Affairs Joaquin Almunia insists that the measures adopted will be temporary and exceptional and that the Stability and Growth Pact, the watchdog of the stability of the euro, “is not being placed on hold”, but will be applied with “greater flexibility” for a certain period. Climate package in its final sprint. The definition of the climate/energy package is also encountering some hurdles in the light of the economic crisis, though the conviction is now widely shared that it’s a matter of urgency to intervene to preserve the environment and prevent natural disasters with unforeseeable consequences in the near future. The European Parliament, meeting in the Belgian capital on 3 and 4 December, has called the representatives of Council and Commission for an urgent debate on the situation of the negotiations on the provisions that have already been widely discussed, though without any decisions being taken at the summit of the 27 in mid-October. Sarkozy now intends to accelerate the pace: he would like in fact to conclude his six months’ Presidency of the Union with some concrete results, given that his action in other fields has been mainly interlocutory and promotional, also in relation to the two emergencies that characterized the second half of 2008, namely the war in the Caucasus and the economic recession. However, the EU strategy on climate remains hinged on “legislative measures aimed at realizing by 2020 the EU objectives in the field of climate change: namely, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 20%, increasing the efficiency of energy consumption by 20% and raising to 20% the consumption of renewable sources, including 10% biofuels in motor vehicles”. From Paris to Prague. But the environmental package has a considerable economic cost, which regards both the public purse and the private sector, beginning with car-manufacturing firms, which are being asked to produce ever less polluting vehicles. Negotiations between the EU institutions are continuing at the present time, and the Council of Ministers of the Environment is due to pronounce on the question on 8 December, followed by a final decision at the summit of heads of state and of government on 11-12 December. Apart from these decisions, attention is also being focused on the future of the Treaty of Lisbon, which will pass to the scrutiny of the same meeting of the European Council. After that, the French Presidency will prepare to make way for that of the Czech Republic, which now remains the only country – other than Ireland – that has not yet approved the Treaty of Lisbon.