Rome seizes the initiative with plans to change treaty

Date: 31/10/1996

By Rory Watson

THE Italian government has stolen a march on the Irish EU presidency by tabling a comprehensive set of treaty changes aimed at increasing the efficiency of the Union's foreign and security policies.

The initiative is designed to challenge those who believe it will be impossible to agree any of the most contentious and politically-sensitive changes to the Maastricht Treaty before the Intergovernmental Conference enters its final lap next June.

“We do not believe that all decisions must wait till the last possible moment under the Dutch EU presidency. We think some changes to the treaty can be agreed earlier. It is my deep conviction that 90&percent; of our proposals on a common foreign and security policy could eventually be part of the final result of the IGC,” explained the Italian IGC representative Silvio Fagiolo.

The Italian government candidly acknowledges that it is more ambitious than many of its EU partners, but believes most of its views will eventually prevail.

It wants more decisions taken by majority voting, suggests a timetable be set out for integrating the EU and Europe's defence alliance, the Western European Union, calls for a common armaments policy and envisages EU defence ministers meeting in the Council of Ministers.

Whether other governments will eventually endorse these proposals remains to be seen, but a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg earlier this week revealed that support was growing for a reform of the current troika system.

Designed to provide continuity in foreign policy, the system brings together past, present and future Union presidencies. An alternative formula, endorsed by Italy, Commission President Jacques Santer and European Parliament President Klaus Hänsch this week, would entrust this task to the presidency in office, assisted by the Commission and the secretary-general of the Council of Ministers.

As the Irish presidency begins to finalise its draft outline version of the revised Maastricht Treaty, the country's Foreign Minister Dick Spring confirmed this week that enough progress had been made for amendments to existing CFSP provisions to be tabled at the December Dublin summit.

With just four IGC meetings left before EU leaders gather in the Irish capital, negotiators are now expected to focus on the other major area of intergovernmental cooperation: justice and home affairs.

“The negotiators want to concentrate on issues where they believe they can make progress, and justice and home affairs is definitely one of them,” said a senior EU diplomat.