VIEWS FROM THE CAPITALS

Autumn 2007

The European Union is back on track, thanks to the German presidency’s feat of orchestrating agreement on how to reform the EU’s institutions. Breaking two years of political deadlock, the deal at the mid-year European Council gave a clear mandate to an intergovernmental conference to write the new Reform Treaty. It is likely to include substantial elements of the European constitution rejected in France and the Netherlands in 2005, and with the IGC now the EU’s top priority it is hoped that the new treaty will be ratified by all 27 member states at the latest by mid-2009.

This hard-won agreement ranks as the German presidency’s greatest achievement and an accomplishment that may even make it into the history books. It proves that European politics can respond to the aspirations of Europe’s citizens, and thus exceeded the expectations of a good many journalists. The German presidency also won back popular support for the EU, apparently reflecting approval of the initiatives that led up to the summit. The spring 2007 Eurobarometer published in June found in all three of its main indicators that people are increasingly backing the Union. Some 59% of respondents believed that membership is beneficial to them, up five percentage points since autumn 2006, with the EU’s image viewed positively by 52% of respondents, up six points. Trust in both the Commission and European Parliament also improved.

For all the political fireworks at the European Council, including neo-chauvinist demands from Poland and British inflexibility, the German presidency amounted to much more than showmanship. Details of the IGC mandate show that the EU has regained its capacity to act - albeit after long and sometimes acrimonious negotiations. Almost all of the substance of the constitution has been preserved. For example, the European Community will cease to exist and the European Union will under the Reform Treaty, acquire its own legal personality. A new president of the European Council will hold office for a renewable two and a half years and a European foreign minister – renamed the High Representative – will head a European foreign service. Britain stopped the Charter on Fundamental Rights from becoming part of the Reform Treaty, but a cross-reference in the treaty will give it binding quality. With minor alterations, Part III of the European constitution will become the treaty on the functioning of the union.

Unanimous voting will still be required for decisions over tax, foreign policy, defence, social security and culture. However, double majority voting will become the norm everywhere else. This means that votes from 55% of member states representing 65% of the EU’s population will constitute a majority for most EU decisions. Introduction of this voting system will be deferred until 2014, with a transition period until 2017 during which member states can still invoke the decision-making procedure of the Treaty of Nice.

This delay was agreed to appease the Polish government, which had insisted on greater national influence. Britain, too, seemed infected with a case of nationalism at the European Council and was reluctant to accept a summit deal if it contained any wording that could be associated with European statehood. The German presidency’s compromise proposals allowed both the British and the Polish governments to save face without making substantial concessions.

Naturally, the right-wing press in Poland presented the summit results as a national victory. But in the end, double majority voting will be binding and a small time lag is of little concern in the context of an irreversible process. European integration is an historical project beyond the nation state, one which ultimately makes nationalism counter-productive. In the end, it may be said that the German presidency was instrumental in reviving a clever European genie which is able to take incremental steps in such a measured way that everyone can join in.