Good departure?

The short amount of time devoted to a busy agenda (less than one day), didn’t discourage the 27 EU heads of government and State, summoned in Brussels June 18-19 for the European Council meeting. The political and economic dossiers were rapidly examined. A number of decisions were taken by the end of the summit; but the practical results will be acknowledged in the short-term.Points on the agreement. “It isn’t necessary to be experts in statistics to understand that we reached a 100% success”. Jan Fischer, Czech Premier and President-in-Office of the European Council (whose mandate is due to expire June 30), thus commented on the results of the summit. Fischer himself listed “the achieved objectives”. “In these two days we approved the guarantees that will enable Ireland to call the new referendum for the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. Full consensus has been reached on the name person that is candidate to lead the next Commission. Common stands were reached on climate change in view of December’s Copenhagen summit. Lastly, the efficient regulation of financial markets has been delved into.” On this point Fischer remarked: “The Czech Presidency has avoided a return to protectionism in this phase of the recession”. According to the President-in-office, “the protocol for Ireland contains guarantees on taxation, neutrality and social affairs that can involve all the States. It doesn’t change the content of the Treaty”. Setting the EU into motion. Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen confirmed his satisfaction. Before departing for Dublin, he reiterated the will to call a second referendum, following the one in June 2008 that confirmed the ‘no-vote’ to the Lisbon Treaty. Cowen declared, “the binding guarantees of the EU Council respond to the concerns of Irish citizens”. The premier mentioned the spirit of solidarity shown by the other States, which he believes grasped the need to confirm that the new Treaty will not affect Irish domestic regulations on issues pertaining to the fiscal, social, education realms and the respect for life. “This – he declared – is a great success that has a great meaning for Ireland and for the entire Union”; “after this summit I confide that I will return to citizens with a solid basis for their ratification” of the Lisbon Treaty “in order to set the EU into motion and wipe out the false news that circulated on the occasion of last year’s summit”.For an “ethical market”. The same spirit marked the declarations of EU Commission President José Manuel Barroso. “I am especially pleased over the agreement that has been reached regarding the guarantees for Ireland. The government” of Dublin “has obtained what it had requested. It can now ask its citizens to give their consensus to the Treaty” of Lisbon. “I have faith in the positive outcome of the referendum”. The head of the Executive – that left the summit with a unanimous appointment to another five-year mandate – commented on the result obtained on financial markets’ surveillance: “An ethical and sustainable market is also capable of creating employment. Until a few months ago a large number of people were sceptical about the EU’s capacity to reach a common stand on this point, however we did succeed”. The Council examined a number of issues, including “illegal immigration and energetic security”, Barroso declared. The family and the right to life. More in detail, as relates to the Lisbon Treaty the Conclusions of the Presidency – over 30 pages assessing the results of the summit – states: “The European Council recalls that the enforcement of the Treaty requires the ratification of each of the 27 Member States, in compliance with the respective constitutional regulations” and it reiterates the hope that it “come into force by the end of 2009”. Thus, referring to the Conclusions of the summit of December 2008, it is confirmed that the Commission will have a member for each adhering State (amounting to 27) while the downsizing of the college is definitively put off, as envisaged in Lisbon. The Council also “agreed that the other concerns of the Irish population” submitted by Prime Minister Cowen “as relates to fiscal policies, the right to life, education and the family, along with Ireland’s traditional military neutrality policy, will be addressed with mutual satisfaction by Ireland and by the other Member States in full respect of the necessary juridical guarantees”. For this purpose, the Conclusions include three “annexed papers” that lead to predict a “yes-vote” to the Treaty in the referendum scheduled for next fall.