POLITICS-EU: Terrorism to Dominate Summit

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Stefania Bianchi

BRUSSELS, Mar 24 2004 (IPS) - European leaders are hoping to forge new agreements at this week’s crucial European Union spring summit.

European leaders are hoping to forge new agreements at this week’s crucial European Union spring summit.

Heads of state will meet in Brussels Thursday and Friday (Mar. 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 is set to be overshadowed by the fight against terrorism following the death of 202 people in the March 11 train blasts in Madrid.

The EU has been scrambling since then to forge a common response to terrorism. That need has been discussed at a rush of high-level meetings across the Union.

The Irish presidency called an emergency meeting of interior ministers last Friday (Mar. 19) in the wake of the attacks. The ministers discussed a range of measures to eradicate the “cancer of terrorism”.

Other proposals being considered include more access to communication data (over telephones and the internet) and a European register on convictions.

This declaration is likely to be approved by EU leaders Thursday.

While anti-terror measures are expected to dominate the agenda, European leaders will also be hoping to breathe new life into the stalled moves towards a new EU constitution.

Leaders will decide whether there is the political will to revive talks which collapsed over a disputed vote weighting system in December.

The dispute arose over the proposal to give countries voting weight in proportion to population size. The proposal would give Germany for instance a more substantial vote than Poland and Spain.

The signs are promising. Over the last few days Germany, Spain and Poland have all indicated that they want an agreement.

The earlier Spanish government, which along with Poland stopped agreement on the constitution in December, suffered a shock election defeat three days after the Madrid attacks.

Prime Minister-elect Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, who will take charge only by mid-April has said he will work for quick agreement on the constitution, in contrast to the uncompromising stance taken by the previous government.

Poland has also shown signs of flexibility as the summit approaches. “There was no room for a compromise before the Brussels summit,” Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski said last week. “But the situation is different now.”

French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin says the new sense of urgency injected into the EU by the Madrid atrocity could translate into quick agreement on the constitution.

“In an unstable world, a dangerous world, we need common rules for Europe,” he said.

But while the Madrid attacks have led to quick agreement on voting weight, other proposals such as an elected EU president, a common foreign minister and a slimmed-down EU executive remain on hold.