A good semester

The meeting of the Heads of State and Government of EU-27, held December 11-12, marked the successful conclusion of the French six-month presidency of the European Union, that was remarkably active. Once again, the Conference closed with a series of compromises. However, none is expected to complain, since the Union of Europe entails the agreement of those in charge of the destinies of Countries and peoples that share this adventure. However, agreement mostly means encounter, upholding not only our own interests and expectations, but also those of our partners. This happened also this time and it shouldn’t be overlooked. The Irish government claimed it would hold another referendum on the Lisbon Treaty next year – defeated in June’s popular vote – viewed as crucial to the Union’s development. The chance of a positive outcome of this second consultation lies in the fact that the heads of Government and State committed themselves onto accepting some of the requests made by Irish citizens. An Irish Commissioner will represent Europe’s executive body also for the future, while the Union pledged respect for the Irish Constitution and regulations addressing specific areas of intervention, especially as regards abortion prohibition and military neutrality. The guarantee of the respect for the Irish law is an easy task, since the Reform Treaty envisages this guarantee. Having said that, it’s deplorable that Ireland – the same applies to any other Member State – was permitted to pretend its own Commissioner, since the Commission had planned the reduced number of Commissioners with the purpose of achieving an efficient commitment, also considering the entry of other States in the Union. Also due to the two political themes on the agenda of the summit, the parties agreed over solutions that necessarily overlooked the much longed-for outcomes, notwithstanding their relevance for future developments. These two issues are the energy and climate policies along with the economic standstill, which requires specific measures aimed at overcoming the present financial crisis. The significant reduction in carbon dioxide emissions – by 20% within the year 2020 – and the decrease in energy consumption, confirmed not only the ambitious objectives established the past year; solutions have equally been found in terms of the guarantee of the objectives’ achievement. It must be ensured that the measures don’t weigh heavily on the industry, and don’t undermine employment. The costs that these measures entail ought to be equally divided between each Member State. This was successfully agreed upon, with a series of exceptions that will be endured by environmental activists. Furthermore, consensus was reached over a funding programme proposed by the European Commission (amounting to 200 billion Euro) to revitalize the economy on the verge of recession and to protect employment. The dynamic management of the French President has positive effects upon the European Union. As the new year draws close, Presidency will be taken over by the Czech Republic: nobody expects a strong leadership from this country, since the Czech President defined himself a Euro-sceptic.