Britain’s Presidency of the EU: all change or plus ça change…?

Summary:

The United Kingdom holds the presidency of the EU from June to December 2005. Following the collapse of the process to ratify the constitutional treaty, and the failure of the Brussels summit in June to agree the principles of the 2007-13 budget, profound questions are being asked about the future direction of Europe. Blair will attempt to use the British presidency to promote his opinion that there is an urgent need for reform in the EU - in particular economic reform - if Europe is to become more competitive in the global economy of the 21st century. To achieve this Blair will go further than ever before in pressing for action on the Lisbon agenda and a wide-ranging review of social policy.

But the British Prime Minister will find it difficult to achieve his desired goals. There are profound disagreements across a range of issues, from financing the EU to Turkish accession. Domestic political pressures in various member states and a historic lack of engagement in Europe on the part of successive British governments are powerful factors that will limit a successful outcome. There is a danger for Blair that he will be judged to have under-performed if concrete changes do not materialise from the ambitious agenda which he has set. His own comment that 'the one thing that everybody in Europe would agree on is that this is an interesting moment to take on Presidency of the European Union' may turn out to be the extent of the consensus.