“Some” good things

The news is that the first decade of the third millennium is ending. But there’s not time – nor desire perhaps – to address it as this symbolic -and not only symbolic- circumstance would demand and deserve. Indeed, a moment seems to have passed since the night of December 31 1999. It was ten years ago. Ten years marked by conflicts, quarrel on oil, pandemics (true or fabricated), climate change, debasing political behaviors, financial crisis… We probably didn’t realize the time that passed since not much has changed since. Or rather, we continue adopting the awful habit of complaining about problems and overlooking the positive – the many good things – that the world has to offer to its inhabitants and vice-versa. At local level (potentially great), the EU managed to do something good. And by coincidence, this occurred after almost a decade of efforts and on the eve of the New Year. The recent adoption of the Lisbon Treaty is no minor achievement, especially considering that institutional reforms are bound to be debated no earlier than in a decade’s time, and therefore the rules of the game have been set. In order to continue with the metaphor, with Lisbon this very game has gained clarity. Of this we can only be proud. The recipients of the assignments, appointments, and responsibilities change. But the institutions – notably their own tasks and purposes – remain. In this framework, the EU’s 2009 balance (and its future previsions) is positive, owing to significant changes. The first and most concrete change, that is most perceivable by the stakeholders and by the public opinion, relates to the mandate of the President of the European Council. In conjunction with the six-month ephemeral rotating presidency – bureaucratic Leviathans that restrict governments’ negotiating and diplomatic powers along with Brussels’ power of action, but which nonetheless will continue chairing the works of the thematic Councils of Ministers -, the so-called EU President, providing the appropriate personal and team skills, now has the powers to ensure a political vision that Brussels had been lacking for the past fifty years, which more than often hindered the Communities and the beneficiaries of Community action in Europe and elsewhere. The second epochal change refers to the assumption of an equal role on the part of the European Parliament (more in content than form) as compared to the Council and the Commission. Co-decisional powers will cease being an institutional pantomime and will become part and parcel of European development. MEPs in Strasbourg (did everyone realize?) now count more than their national colleagues, while it’s true that three-quarters of Member States’ regulations are no other than the transposition of bills proposed, debated and endorsed in Europe. It would be good if also all citizens – to whom MEPs ought to refer to, according to political thought – realized this and demanded high-quality decisional processes and effective measures. What is boiling in the European pot for 2010? Two main issues are bound to gain center-stage in Spanish and Belgium Presidency for 2010, namely, the reform of the common agricultural policy and the reform of the regional and cohesion policy (in its current form the latter is disliked by the very Commission that proposed it a few years ago). These are delicate circumstances that affect the daily lives of dozens of millions of citizens, and that for this reason represent true testing grounds for the “new” institutions. Finally, the translation of Lisbon’s words into facts is awaited. If historia magistra vitae, the task won’t be an easy one. But now the bases have been placed. There’s no going back.