Europe, Headlines

POLITICS-EU: Divisions Lurk Beneath Apparent Unity

Stefania Bianchi

BRUSSELS, Mar 29 2004 (IPS) - While the mood in Europe appears to be one of unity and determination following the Madrid terrorist attacks, leaders recognise the challenges ahead.

European leaders met last Thursday and Friday (March 25 and 26) for the annual European Union (EU) spring summit.

The summit traditionally focuses on economic issues such as long-term economic strategy expressed in the Lisbon agreement of March 2000, but this year’s meeting was overshadowed by the fight against terrorism following the Madrid bombings on March 11 which killed 202 people.

Many leaders and observers hailed the summit a success, as member states found agreement on a range of issues.

Spurred into action by the Madrid blasts, leaders gave new impetus to European integration. They signed a pledge of solidarity against terrorism, and agreed to boost intelligence cooperation among member states.

Leaders also managed to set aside previous public disagreements over Iraq, and called for an increased role for the United Nations to be endorsed by the Security Council.

But one of the biggest achievements of the meet was a commitment by all 25 government leaders to reach a deal on the EU’s new constitution within the first half of this year.

The draft constitution aims to allow the bloc to function smoothly when 10 new members join the Union in May.

The heads of state said that they hoped to put their names to the text by the time of the next scheduled EU summit on June 17 and 18.

The agreement marked a dramatic contrast to last December’s summit when disputes over voting rights for Poland and Spain split the bloc.

At the time Germany, which was in favour of the new proposals for a voting system, was pitted against Spain and Poland. The new proposals would give Germany a bigger vote because it has a larger population.

This time member states agreed in principle to negotiate on a version of the "double majority" solution, under which decisions must be passed by more than half the member states, representing more than 60 percent of the EU’s population.

Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, whose country holds the EU’s rotating presidency, described the meeting as "a very successful EU summit."

He said everyone at the meeting had shown the political will needed to get agreement by June for the constitutional treaty.

"We have a changed atmosphere and a new willingness to compromise. We all want to see a new constitution in place as soon as we can," Ahern said at the end of the meeting.

Pat Cox, president of the European Parliament, hailed the development as a "real breakthrough on the path to a constitutional treaty."

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said there was a "new sense of EU unity" following the attacks in Madrid.

Europe’s press also recognised the significance of the conciliatory tone of the summit.

The German daily ‘Sueddeutsche Zeitung’ said that the Madrid bombings were a "salutary shock and released political energy in all capital cities so as finally to end the dispute over the planned European constitution."

The Czech Republic’s ‘Pravo’ said that after the summit "there is a certain hope that the EU will stay alert at least for some time and push Europe closer to the situation in which it will be strong thanks to the use of all means in order to ensure security and also thanks to the political will."

But while member states managed to forge agreement over a range of issues at the summit, problems remain.

Even if member states reach an accord at their June summit, the toughest leg of constitutional agreement still lies in the form of the long ratification process.

If the constitution is rejected by one of the member states, the bloc will be in "big trouble", Ben Crum from the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) was quoted as saying on the ‘EU Business’ website. "The EU will have to revert to its old treaties, and then we’re back to square one," he said.

Other problems lie ahead. While leaders are feeling positive about unity in the aftermath of the recent terrorist attacks, there are concerns how long this optimism will remain.

In spite of the striking change of mood from the "near despair" last December, "no one underestimates the numerous and highly sensitive issues which remain to be resolved," says John Palmer, political director of the Brussels-based European Policy Centre (EPC).

"Everything now depends on whether this changed political climate really produces a new political will at the EU level to achieve results in practice," he said in a statement.

Another big issue facing the bloc is the timing of the constitution.

While Ireland and several other countries including Denmark Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia would like to see a deal before the European elections in June, others are not so sure.

France and Britain are concerned that the elections would immediately become a referendum on the Constitution.

In Spain real negotiations can only start once the new government is in place. This is only expected in mid-April.

In Poland things look uncertain because the government could fall over the next few weeks following the resignation Friday of prime minister Leszek Miller after a party revolt.

Among other challenges facing the bloc are the composition of the EU executive, the European Commission and the distribution of seats in the European Parliament after enlargement.

The Union also faces economic challenges. The summit concluded that Europe is slipping behind in reaching goals set out in Lisbon four years ago. The war in Iraq and the Madrid attacks were largely blamed for a gloomy economic review.