Secrets behind the EU presidency show-piece

Date: 06/06/1996

THE finishing touches are being put to Florence's Fortezza da Basso and the surrounding area so that the Renaissance city can welcome almost 30 European government leaders in appropriate splendour at the end of this month.

The occasion will be the show-piece of Italy's six-month EU presidency and the hosts are determined that the Tuscan capital will leave an indelible memory on the thousands of guests.

For European summits are big business and preparations start anything up to two years in advance to ensure that everything runs like clockwork and that the best the host country has to offer is on display.

The Italian government set aside 31 million ecu in development grants to spruce up its two summit venues - Turin and Florence - for their entry on to the European stage, and it has spent a further 13 to 15 million ecu on associated events during its six months at the helm.

For the host city, the honour bestows undoubted advantages. Hotels, restaurants, taxi drivers and souvenir specialists rub their hands in glee at the prospect of welcoming thousands of politicians, officials, journalists and sundry camp followers - almost all living on expense accounts - for a few days.

Summits offer a unique publicity opportunity. Television crews beam images of picturesque scenes round the world and the written media invariably write colour pieces on the venues' virtues. They also provide an invaluable incentive for central government and city fathers to complete much needed improvements to the local infrastructure.

It is no mere coincidence that the two northern Italian cities were chosen to host European summits in March and June. Turin has close links with former Italian Foreign Minister Susanna Agnelli and Florence with ex-Premier Lamberto Dini.

“As a country we do not have a permanent structure for international conferences. We have several towns which have the same economic, cultural and political importance as Rome, so summit venues are chosen for political and other reasons,” explains an Italian official.

The same reasoning dictates that the benefits of summits should be geographically spread. Italy has held them in Milan, Venice and Rome and hosted a recent meeting of the Group of Seven industrialised nations in Naples.

“We wanted to give a boost to Naples, which was facing an economic crisis. Since then, tourism has really taken off. Previously, hotels were empty. Now you have to reserve a month in advance,” says one Italian diplomat.

That breadth of choice is not available to Ireland, which takes over the six-month rotating EU presidency on 1 July. The government always holds its European summits in Dublin Castle, a former prison, administrative centre and for centuries the symbol of foreign British rule.

“The decision is based entirely on logistics. We could look at other venues, but no other centre could cater for the number of journalists involved. We will have to deal with over 2,000,” explains an Irish official.

That explosion of media interest, with the demand it brings for telephone lines and broadcasting facilities, is perhaps the single most important practical consideration governments have to bear in mind when selecting a summit venue.

The media presence has also helped to transform the nature of these gatherings of EU leaders from the off-the-record fireside chats which the former French and German leaders Valéry Giscard d'Estaing and Helmut Schmidt had in mind in the Seventies.

The informal secret sessions on economic and monetary issues which American, British, French and German finance ministers used to hold in the White House library were the original model for EU summits. But over the years, these inevitably became more formalised and are now considered the pinnacle of EU decision-making.

In addition to the demands placed on summit hosts by the media, the security needs of the 15 EU leaders, their Mediterranean and Central and Eastern European counterparts and the delegations of senior diplomats who accompany them also rank high in the selection of venues, as does the legacy which remains once the Union circus has moved on.

Some of the more cosmetic trimmings - the potted plants, temporary partitions, flags and furniture - may well be removed, but other improvements in the shape of better roads and renovated buildings remain.

After the Dublin summit in December, the press area will be converted into a permanent museum for one of the finest collections of Arabic art outside the Arab world. And, to please government accountants, Irish officials point out that the 15.3 million ecu the department of foreign affairs will spend on its presidency arrangements will be more than compensated for by the 26 million ecu the country expects to generate in tourist revenue during the six months.

But undoubtedly the biggest beneficiary in recent years of the largesse which stems from summits is the Mediterranean island of Corfu. This traditional holiday destination, complete with its legendary cricket pitch, was briefly turned into an EU enclave in June 1994.

That meeting is now history, best remembered for the presence of Russian President Boris Yeltsin and the veto British Prime Minister John Major wielded to prevent Belgian premier Jean-Luc Dehaene from becoming president of the European Commission.

But the 40 million ecu invested in the island remains - the airport was upgraded with the completion of a new terminal, improved luggage handling facilities and a special lounge for important visitors; roads were resurfaced; and 2,500 new telephone lines and several hundred extra phone booths were installed around the island.

Historic buildings such as the Achillion Palace in Gastouri, the Palace of St Michael and St George, and St George's Church in the Old Fortress were all renovated and a new wing was added to the island's general hospital.

The choice of Corfu reflected a clear Greek policy in selecting its summit venues. It has foresaken Athens, which hosted the country's first European Council in 1983, and has turned instead to sun-drenched tourist Mediterranean islands such as Rhodes and Corfu.

France struck a similarly relaxed pose last summer when President Jacques Chirac welcomed EU leaders to Cannes. Under a clear blue sky, a city more famous as a playground for stars of the screen and haven for the rich was bathed in stars of a different kind - the 12 golden stars of the Euro-flag.

The venue marked a clear break with the preference for Strasbourg displayed by Chirac's predecessor François Mitterrand. His choice was partly prompted by a wish to reinforce the city's stance as the permanent home of the European Parliament and partly to help boost the fortunes of the local Socialist party.

Political motives of a different kind lay behind the selection of Edinburgh as the climax of the 1992 UK Union presidency. The choice of venue was announced by former Premier Margaret Thatcher at the Scottish Tories' annual conference in Spring 1990, largely to shore up flagging Conservative support in Scotland.

The total cost of the operation, ranging from the transformation of a sports stadium into a press centre to security costs, was 11 million ecu.

The decision failed to improve support for the Thatcher government among Scottish voters in the general election two years later, but the Scottish capital provided a perfect royal backdrop to impress the UK's Union partners. The heads of government meeting was held in Holyroodhouse Palace, the official Scottish residence of Queen Elisabeth II, they were dined on board her royal yacht Britannia and entertained in Edinburgh Castle.

Summits may be the pinnacle of an EU presidency, but the host government has many other opportunities to exploit Union events during its six-month stint at the helm. Informal ministerial meetings in key towns and cities - usually in the host minister's own constituency - are a favourite device.

At one point these threatened to become so numerous that they have now been limited to seven per presidency. Ireland will host five in Dublin, one in Tralee and one in Killarney.

And what is the secret of a smooth six months? According to one senior Irish diplomat, “the key to a successful presidency and summit is not to do anything less than what went before”.

At least one new member state has taken that advice, and the need for forward planning, on board. Finnish officials have already been to Dublin to witness the work in progress, even though their country's turn at the EU presidency will not come around until the second half of 1999.