Deal in sight to scrap veto on ‘pioneer’ groups

Date: 12/10/00

By Simon Taylor

EU GOVERNMENTS are near to a deal on plans to make it easier for 'pioneering' groups of member states to forge ahead with closer integration.

The emerging agreement would strip countries of the right to veto such advances single-handedly, despite fierce opposition to this idea when it was initially floated.

Diplomats say there was almost unanimous support for a paper drawn up by Germany and Italy setting out how the rules could be changed and calling for the abolition of the 'emergency brake', at a meeting of Union treaty reform negotiators this week.

Only Austria and Greece still have major reservations about the plan, with the UK and Sweden both warming to the idea. "Member states are becoming more enthusiastic because the reality of enhanced cooperation is coming nearer," said one diplomat.

The 13-page paper presented by Berlin and Rome argues that groups of member states should be able to form an "open, functional vanguard" to pursue closer political integration. But it adds that this should be used in a "selective and politically responsible way" and "serve the common goal of more rapid and increased integration".

It says that future decisions on whether to sanction enhanced cooperation should be taken by qualified majority vote, instead of unanimity as required under existing rules. It also argues that the number of governments needed to trigger a pioneer group should be kept at the current level of eight, so it becomes easier once the Union expands to take in up to a dozen new members.

Under the new system, the Commission would continue to be responsible for deciding whether plans for enhanced cooperation in one area would undermine existing policies involving all 15 member states in another, such as the single market, environmental law or taxation. This week's call from French finance ministry officials for a pioneer group of countries to harmonise taxes would, for example, almost certainly be rejected on these grounds. The European Court of Justice would be the final arbiter in the event of a dispute.

Diplomats say that the strict conditions which would be set for invoking the enhanced cooperation mechanism mean it is only likely to be used in a limited number of areas, such as foreign policy, defence and justice and home affairs, where several member states already have formal opt-outs.

This has allayed UK and Swedish fears that it could result in the creation of a 'hard core' of EU countries. Indeed, supporters of the move also argue that enhanced cooperation in these areas would make it easier for member states which decided to stay on the sidelines to monitor the pioneer group more closely. It would also give the European Parliament a role in overseeing policy in these areas for the first time.

In his keynote speech on Europe last week, British Prime Minister Tony Blair signalled a significant shift in the UK's stance on enhanced cooperation. He described it as "an instrument to strengthen the Union from within, not an instrument of exclusion", provided it did not undermine the single market or other common policies and did not result in the creation of separate institutions from which non-participants were excluded.

EU governments are near to a deal on plans to make it easier for 'pioneering' groups of Member States to forge ahead with closer integration.