European spirit to be revived” “

“Community method” and “institutional triangle” (Commission-Council-Parliament) are the real driving force of the European Union, insists JACQUES DELORS, former President of the European Commission from 1985 to 1994. He made the point again on intervening in recent days in a meeting in Rome promoted by the Italian Chamber of Deputies, during which Delors’ recently published book of “Memoirs” was presented. The book reviews the various stages of the process of unification, from the single Act to the Treaty of Maastricht (1992). The theme of the meeting was: “What lessons can be drawn for the future from fifty years of European history”. “We need to reaffirm the Community method that transcends national interests. And the mainstay of that method is the institutional triangle, to which should be added the Court of Justice for its role as guarantor of conformity with EU law”, said Delors, reviewing the progress so far made and offering some suggestions about method and content for the future. COMMUNITY METHOD. “In the ‘institutional triangle’, it is the European Parliament that continues to ‘grow’ with the progressive acquisition of new powers – observed the former President of the Commission -, but the Commission-Council tandem remains essential for the efficient functioning of the Community machine. It is the job of the Commission to see that ‘the rules of the game’ are respected on the basis of the general guidelines defined by the European Council”. That’s why Delors insists on the need to “work with a clear and essential agenda and well-defined options”. “But – it was asked following the summit in Brussels on 25/26 March – so long as the heads of state or of government return to their respective countries from the European Council claiming victory in the negotiations, how can we speak of a united Europe or a credible Community method?”. EUROPEAN SPIRIT. The other points treated by the former President of the Commission included the European economic and social model and the controversial “federalist model of a Europe of nation states”. As for the first, “there are two roads that may be pursued: either the road of integration which will certainly require time, or the one favoured by those who think that competition between the member states should be maintained”. In the view of Delors, “it we exclusively take the road of competition, we will lose everything we have gained over the last fifty years. It will spell the end of the Europe we wished to create. If Europe is unable to create a model of sustainable development and social cohesion, we will have lost our gamble”. According to Delors, the economic model must be based on three principles: “the competition that stimulates, the cooperation that reinforces and the solidarity that unites”. “In response to a globalization that causes disarray – he continued – there’s a need for a strong sense of belonging simultaneously to the nation Europe and to one’s own nation; when I speak of Europe as a federation of nation states I mean to emphasise the importance of not debasing the national dimension within a political and civic space” that needs to be created “in full respect for the law and, especially, by the revival of the European spirit which cannot exist without political will, pragmatism and heart”. COSTITUTION. Stressing the importance of a rapid approval of the new Constitution for the growth of Europe, also at the economic level, the EU Commissioner for Competition MARIO MONTI declared: “Europe in recent times has proved disappointing in various spheres; also in the economic field. Nonetheless, it should be pointed out that it is a ‘country’ that has made the greatest structural reform by implementing in the space of a few years the single market, the single currency, enlargement and – soon we hope – the Constitution”. The approval of the new constitutional treaty is desirable in the short term, not least “with a view to greater competitiveness and growth of the economy”, continued Monti, convinced that “the Constitution will make the decision-making process a little less slow and cumbersome”, and this “will also have positive effects on businesses”. Recalling the failure of the summit in Brussels in December 2003 and “the pressures of the Franco-German axis in its claim to show the way”, Monti insisted on the need to “overcome every division”. “In any case – he remarked – at this time I see neither in France nor in Germany the propulsive capacity of the European driving force they had in the past”.