On the march with realism

“Europe is on the march. This summit confirms that the Europe of results is not just an aspiration”, declared MATTI VANHANEN , Finnish Prime Minister and current EU President on closing the Council of 14-15 December. He said he was “satisfied with the work performed together”. Optimism forms part of the “liturgies” of the EU, justified from some points of view but certainly not shared by other protagonists at the summit. The summit in fact confirmed the “brake” on enlargement and deferred to the German Presidency, due to begin on 1st January, any new attempt to continue the constitutional process. FURTHER ENLARGEMENTS POSTPONED SINE DIE . To understand the mood and aims of the recent meeting of heads of state and of government in Brussels, we need to consult both the final document of the Council and the declarations of the political leaders. The “Conclusions of the Presidency” (33-page document) begins by expressing “deep satisfaction for the accession of Bulgaria and Romania”, which brings the number of EU members to 27, and completes the fifth EU enlargement begun in 2004 with the accession of 10 countries in South-East Europe (previous enlargements took place in 1973, 1981, 1986, 1995). It was just on the question of future enlargements that the most significant decisions of the summit were taken. It decided, that is, to pursue the negotiations with the candidate states, though postponing any new accession until the EU had found a better internal institutional balance. In the case of Turkey, moreover, 8 of the 35 dossiers necessary for membership were suspended: so Ankara’s aspiration to join the 27 has suffered a setback. NO DISCOUNTS FOR CANDIDATES. The Conclusions sanction the rule of the “3 C”: the strategy of enlargement will henceforth be based on “consolidation, conditionality and communication”, and “combined with the capacity of the EU to integrate new members”. Candidate countries are requested full compliance with the Copenhagen Criteria. The need to explain to citizens the full significance and advantages of possible further enlargements is also reiterated. At the same time is it established that “the Union must be able effectively to function and develop” (“capacity for absorption”). Enlargement must not conflict with the overall process of integration. No discounts, or exemptions, will be granted to candidates; this was confirmed by French President JACQUES CHIRAC who explained, with regard to Turkey’s membership bid: “I have always been in favour of the negotiations, even if I am aware they will be long and difficult and impose” on Ankara “major reforms in culture and in the overall situation of the country”. At the same time, however, the Council has clearly spelt out that “the future of the Western Balkans is in the European Union”. CONSTITUTION ON HOLD. The other major theme on the agenda of the Council meeting held in the Justus Lipsius Building, at the heart of the European quarter of Brussels, was the Constitutional Treaty. To this point the Conclusions dedicate exactly nine lines. In the first seven any decision is deferred to the next semester of the European Council; the German Presidency is requested to report on the matter before the summit in June 2007. The last two lines of the paragraph state: “The European Council underlines the importance of celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Treaties of Rome with a view to confirming the values of the process of European integration”. At the celebration, to be held in Berlin on 25 March, the Declaration on the Future of Europe will be signed: a document of good intentions to recall the half century of successes in the progress of the Community and to reaffirm its irreversibility in the global era. On this theme ANGELA MERKEL reflects: “Europeans would be committing an historic error were they not to find a compromise prior to the European elections in 2009”, “preserving some essential points of the constitutional text”. MIGRATION, EXTERNAL POLICY. The heads of state and of government at the summit tackled many other questions. They reaffirmed “their commitment to the further development” of the area of liberty and security, in implementation of the programme of The Hague. They also acknowledged the “constant and growing expectations of citizens, who desire concrete results in such sectors as criminality and transnational terrorism, as well as migration”. But beyond this minimum common denominator they do not go. The President of the Commission, JOSÉ MANUEL BARROSO , admits: “There is no agreement between states on the area of liberty and security”. The Council also discussed innovation, energy and climate change. On migration policy an “extraordinary summit between the EU and Africa” was decided; it will be held in Lisbon in the second half of 2007. The final document also devotes ample coverage to external relations, with five declarations regarding the peace process in the Middle East, Lebanon, Iran, Afghanistan and “African questions”.