Britain to push for EU shaped by nation states

April 16, 2003 - London Times
Britain to push for EU shaped by nation states
From Rory Watson in Brussels

TONY BLAIR will elaborate on his vision in Athens today of a European Union of 25 or more members in which the main levers of power will be firmly in the hands of national governments, and not the European Commission. The Prime Minister will tell Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, the former French President who is chairing the convention drafting the EU's first constitution, that the Union needs a full-time president if it is to punch its weight in the world. The holder of this powerful new post would be chosen by EU leaders. A European foreign minister, who would represent the Union on the international stage, would assist the president.

Mr Blair will present his blueprint this morning as M Giscard tries to establish a clear picture of the governments' hopes and no-go areas for the institutional reforms that he is now finalising.

M Giscard will propose the complex package next week. He has just 76 days to secure broad consensus on a constitution among the 105 governmental, national and European parliamentary representatives on the convention if he is to meet the deadline.

The disarray caused by the Iraq war has cast a shadow over the plans to revise the EU's existing treaties. However, M Giscard hopes that the summit, during which the accession treaty will be formally signed by the 15 existing and ten future members, will give new impetus to the exercise. There is agreement that, without reform, the decision-making structure, created for a Union of 6 countries 50 years ago, would simply grind to a halt once the EU expands in May next year. But there is still no consensus on the changes that need to be made.

As the deep divisions over Iraq gradually recede, a new series of criss-crossing fault-lines between EU members could become apparent today. These tend to pit large countries against small, and federalists against supporters of the nation state.

In marked contrast to their adversarial positions over Iraq, France supports these key elements of Mr Blair's blueprint, as do Germany, Spain and Italy. They believe that a full-time president of the council, probably a former national prime minister or president, would provide the gravitas and continuity that is absent under the present system, whereby the chairmanship changes every six months.

However, 16 small member states have said that they oppose the plan. They enjoy their six-monthly turn at the helm and they fear that the proposal would downgrade the importance of the Commission, which is traditionally seen as the repository of the wider European interest, and would enable larger countries to dominate EU business.

According to one Brussels diplomat: "Smaller countries have problems with this. But it is worth remembering that the opponents represent just 23 per cent of the EU's population."

Some officials believe that the opposition is tactical. M Giscard wants EU leaders to tell him whether each member state should automat- ically have one commissioner. Britain maintains that that would make the institution too unwieldy. Britain has even indicated that it would not insist on a British commissioner, if others agreed to the proposed change.

However, smaller countries are nervous about the idea. For them, a commissioner helps to guarantee a seat at the EU's top table and to consolidate the links between Brussels and public opinion.

Diplomats expect a trade-off eventually. That would allow each country to keep a commissioner for the foreseeable future and the introduction of an influential council president, who would drive forward the institution's agenda and serve a term ranging from two and a half to five years.

There are similar disagreements over the proposed European foreign minister's post, which some believe is being lined up for Joschka Fischer, the German Foreign Minister. Supporters see the position combining the considerable amount of personnel and finance that is managed by Chris Patten, the External Relations Commissioner, with the political clout wielded by Javier Solana, the EU foreign policy chief, who answers to EU governments.

Some countries, notably Belgium, argue that the divisions over Iraq reinforce the argument for making the holder of the office independent inside the Commission. But they are in a minority. The lesson other member states draw from the past few months is that foreign policy is such a sensitive national issue that its direction must remain in governmental hands.

That is certainly the message that Mr Blair and President Chirac will convey today when they emphasise that the new European foreign minister should be responsible to governments, not to the Commission.