Half century of history

The Eu is preparing the celebrations to mark its fiftieth birthday next spring. The date corresponds to the 50th anniversary of the signing of the founding Treaties of the European Economic Community (25 March 1957). In recent days the Commission chose the logo for all the events being planned to mark the anniversary, beginning with the extraordinary summit to be held in Berlin on 25 March 2007. SIR has met the European Commissioner for Security. Liberty and Justice, the Italian FRANCO FRATTINI , in Brussels and interviewed him about the Union’s constitutional prospects. A veil of silence has long fallen over the European Constitution. After it was rejected by the French and Dutch electors, the debate on the Constitution has difficulty in being revived. We should recognize at least the commitment to it made by the German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who will preside over the European Council during the next semester. Do you think the German Presidency will be able to give new impetus to the Constitution? “I am convinced we could have a Constitution for the European Union if, in the course of the German semester, we are able to define a binding calendar, with a precise timetable and specification of the major issues that deserve a constitutional response. Personally I am convinced that these should include the question of the citation of the Christian roots of Europe”. In your view, should the text of the Constitution signed in 2004 be completely rewritten or merely “retouched”? “I don’t think we need to start out from zero, or rewrite the text. But there is scope for re-negotiation of some parts or articles. I also envisage a further priority. We need, I believe, to accelerate the timetable to be able finally to adopt the Constitution before the elections for the European Parliament, due to be held in the summer of 2009. We cannot allow ourselves to miss this deadline. How could we explain any such failure to European citizens? And on what basis could we invite them to have confidence in the EU and to go to the ballot box to elect the members of the European Parliament?”. During the German Presidency of the EU, the heads of state and of government will meet in Berlin to sign a “charter of intentions” which would reaffirm their faith in integration, and enunciate the fundamental values of the Union and its main objectives. In your view, what ought to be included in this solemn declaration? “Two questions. First, the heads of state and of government must solemnly re-affirm that the European Community was founded and continues to advance to defend great ideals and not just economic advances. The EU, in other words, must be a community based on values; only then can it become a single market, can it have common policies and a single currency. What values? Those already expressed in the Constitution: they comprise freedom, solidarity and the centrality of the person… The principle that the State, and also the supranational institutions, should have the role of serving the citizen should also be reaffirmed. Whoever wants to live in the Union must adopt these fundamental principles. This would also hold good as a factor of integration for the numerous immigrants who legally come to live in our countries”. The second question? “In the Berlin declaration the heads of state and of government should reaffirm mutual trust and solidarity between the member states. Otherwise it would be impossible to achieve any real integration, and unanimity of agreement would always be necessary for any European decision to be reached. The power of veto is an enemy of integration. States must consciously renounce parts of their national sovereignty to construct a wider, more solid, secure and effective Community. By doing so, the governments would also send a convincing signal to their citizens: in this Europe you can trust. The EU brings benefits both to individuals and to national communities. Also with the aim of fostering the Union’s progress, people’s anxieties about Europe need to be allayed and the gap between EU institutions and citizens reduced”. Anxieties that show no signs of abating in the countries of Eastern Europe that have only recently joined the EU. “It’s true, we have this problem. The citizens of the new member countries have not yet experienced the advantages of Eu accession. We must all strive together, therefore, both in the Eu and in its member states, to demonstrate the practical advantages that already exist. But I don’t always see the willingness of some governments to do so”. The European Parliament has recently postponed its vote – only an advisory one – on the proposal to transform the European watchdog on phenomena of racism into a fully-fledged Agency of Fundamental Rights, endowed with a wider mandate. What’s your view on that? “We were faced by two problems: the attribution to the Agency of responsibilities in the area of judicial and police cooperation and any extension of its tasks beyond the frontiers of the EU, comprising for example the Balkans. Now we have a few weeks’ time to better define the profile of the Agency, on which the European Council in December will be called to express its view. But I am convinced the obstacles we have encountered can be overcome”.