Prague bids to downplay the Berlin Declaration

Prague’s top negotiator for the Berlin Declaration has warned that the Czech government cannot accept a deadline of 2009 for agreeing new institutional reforms in the Berlin Declaration to mark the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome.

Czech centre-right MEP Jan Zahradil, Prague’s negotiator for the declaration, said: "There is an overwhelming feeling in the government back home that we should not let our presidency be overshadowed by such a difficult political issue."

The Czech Republic has the EU’s presidency in the first half of 2009.

"We are very concerned about an explicit reference to a deadline," added Zahradil.

The issue emerged as a new potential stumbling block, despite increasing optimism about agreement on the declaration after the German presidency indicated it would not insist on a reference to the constitution in the declaration.

In a debate on the declaration in the European Parliament yesterday (14 March), German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said that he hoped that leaders would make a "joint commitment" on the need for "reform and renewal in the EU to be taken forward" although he did not mention the constitution specifically. German Socialist MEP Jo Leinen, chairman of the constitutional affairs committee, said that the declaration should recognise that the existing treaties were "not sufficient".

Zahradil said there could be "smooth adoption" of the declaration in response to Steinmeier’s efforts to avoid referring to the constitution.

The Czech Republic has been seen as one of the most reluctant countries on the declaration and any subsequent re-negotiation of the constitution, along with the UK and Poland.

Zahradil said that while it was "probably impossible to avoid remarks about Europe’s social model" in the declaration, comments by Steinmeier went "too far" and were "too detailed" for the declaration which was meant to be short and general.

Steinmeier said that the declaration should emphasise that Europe stood for a social model based on "economic competition", combining "entrepreneurial freedom and worker participation".

During the debate Parliament President Hans-Gert Pöttering outlined the shape and content of the draft declaration which will consist of at least four parts. The first section should recognise the main achievements of the EU since 1957, including peace, prosperity and stability as well as consolidating democracy and the rule of law following enlargement. The second part should set out the key features of European unification and co-operation including equal rights and responsibilities of member states, transparency and subsidiarity.

The third section should spell out the Union’s core values including the inviolability of human dignity and the principle of solidarity as well as stressing diversity, tolerance and mutual respect.

Steinmeier said that this section should reflect that the EU was "more than just a common market. It was a "community of values" reflecting the fact that it was a political entity, he said.

The fourth part should address the Union’s internal and external challenges including energy and climate change, common foreign and security policy, internal security and citizens’ rights and the need to maintain a vision of society based on social responsibility and stronger economic success.

Prague’s top negotiator for the Berlin Declaration has warned that the Czech government cannot accept a deadline of 2009 for agreeing new institutional reforms in the Berlin Declaration to mark the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome.