Dehaene hits out over EU leaders’ squabbles

Date: 20/02/03

EU LEADERS have come under attack from Jean-Luc Dehaene, vice-president of the future of Europe Convention, for damaging the Union's image with their divisions over Iraq.

Belgium's ex-premier took issue with both the relentlessly pro-US stance of Britain and Spain and Franco-German efforts to avert war.

"Everyone's at fault in what happened recently," Dehaene told MEPs yesterday (19 February). "Those who followed the US without consultation didn't act in the European spirit. But the assumption France and Germany can decide on something and everyone else should follow - that's not the European spirit either."

Socialist MEP Jacques Poos, former deputy prime minister of Luxembourg, said he was not hopeful that a durable common foreign policy could be formed after the recent show of solidarity with the US, signed by five EU member states and three budding ones: Spain, the UK, Italy, Portugal, Denmark, Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary.

The "letter of the eight" was issued two days after a common EU stance on Iraq was agreed on 27 January, without the knowledge or consent of most other member states.

Poos regretted that some of the Union's governments seemed to view the Bush administration rather than Javier Solana, the EU's high representative, as their spokesman on foreign policy. "Some member states believe the chief of the European tribe lives in Washington and Texas, while others recognise a chief of the European tribe who's based here in Brussels," he said.

Irish centre-right MEP John Cushnahan advocated that the constitution being drafted by the Convention should recommend sanctions "when a member state defies CFSP [common foreign and security policy]". The five leaders who signed the letter of support for the US were in breach of that policy, he added.

Austrian Hannes Swoboda contended the EU needs to have someone who will act as its foreign minister, similar to the US secretary of state. "Anything else would be unrealistic," the Socialist added.

Dehaene is urging that the current roles of Solana and External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten should be merged. Under this plan, the Council of EU foreign ministers would have a president, who would also be a vice-president of the European Commission. Despite holding the latter post, he or she would be able to take initiatives without the approval of other commissioners, provided there was a mandate from EU governments.

A working group on EU external action, which Dehaene chaired, has suggested to the Convention that foreign policy decisions should generally be taken in the Council of Ministers by a qualified majority.

EU leaders have come under attack from Jean-Luc Dehaene, Vice-President of the Convention on the Future of Europe, for damaging the European Union's image with their divisions over Iraq.