Drive to end policy paralysis

Date: 29/02/1996

By Rory Watson

THE bandwagon to ensure the EU a stronger international role is gathering speed as the final preparations are made for the overhaul of the Maastricht Treaty.

The lead to find a way out of the common foreign and security policy (CFSP) cul de sac in which the Union repeatedly finds itself trapped is coming from France and Germany. Their call for an end to the policy paralysis of unanimous decision-making was supported by the European Commission yesterday (28 February) and will be backed by the three Benelux countries next week.

Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jacques Poos confirmed: “We are very much in favour of formulas which will stop progress being blocked. The Benelux countries favour more flexibility. The slowest should not be able to impose their rhythm on those who want to go ahead.”

His tone echoed the criticism this week from French and German Foreign Ministers Hervé de Charette and Klaus Kinkel of “the rigidities of unanimity” now bedevilling EU foreign policy-making. When the Intergovernmental Conference opens in Turin on 29 March, both will argue that the new treaty should make specific reference to a new principle of “constructive abstention”.

In a clear sign that the Franco-German tandem is moving into gear as the year-long negotiations approach, the four-page memorandum agreed in Freiburg this week sets out the CFSP changes both governments will call for at the IGC.

They accept that no state may be forced against its will to engage its forces in military or police action, but argue that countries should no longer be able to prevent their partners from implementing such policies.

The Commission added its weight to the attack on unanimity in CFSP policy-making yesterday by recommending that qualified majority voting become the norm in the Union - a view expected to be echoed by the European Parliament when it endorses its own IGC submission in mid-March.

Commission President Jacques Santer, presenting the policy paper in Brussels, insisted that political will for the changes ahead was the overriding requirement as the IGC approaches.

“In an enlarged community, the retention of the national veto would lead to total paralysis. Majority voting must be the rule. In a Union of 20 or 21 countries, are you really going to restrict the process to the speed of the slowest participant?” he asked.

Confirmation that MEPs and the Commission increasingly share a common vision of the Union's future emerged yesterday when Parliament President Klaus Hänsch welcomed the latest input to the IGC debate.

“The Commission demonstrates that it has recognised the challenges facing the EU and sees the success of the IGC as the essential first step towards achieving the tasks the Union has set itself over the next few years,” he said.

The Commission has also sided with Bonn and Paris by proposing that changes be made to the EU's treaties to allow some countries to move ahead in certain policy areas, including defence and judicial cooperation, even if a minority is opposed.

In addition, it recommends that the Commission president be given greater powers over the appointment of his colleagues and the distribution of portfolios. With the prospect of enlargement round the corner it argues that the big five countries should have just one, not two, Commissioners.

“This is a blueprint for the way ahead and we hope it will be the centre of gravity for discussions,” said one Commission official.

The Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium will finalise their IGC priorities at a mini summit of prime ministers and foreign ministers on 7 March. Apart from giving strong backing to the scrapping of national vetoes, the Benelux countries will tell their partners that the Union has to continue developing some of its core policy areas.

“We need to deepen internal market, employment, social and environmental policies. We believe the IGC should not be just about institutional reform in preparation for enlargement. It should also address problems of major concern to our citizens. Those are not linked to enlargement, but to the fight against unemployment,” explained Poos.

France is placing similar emphasis on the need to give an added boost to European social policy.

Speaking to a German business audience last week, de Charette said both the 1989 social charter and the protocol annexed to the Maastricht Treaty represented major progress in the Union.

“Unfortunately, due to the opposition of one member state, these elements could not find their place in the treaty itself. I believe we must put an end to this abnormal situation and reintegrate the protocol into the treaty,” he said.

Spain has become the first member state to hold the outcome of the IGC to ransom, as Madrid continues its campaign to change extradition rules in the Union. Spanish Foreign Minister Carlos Westendorp warned this week that if “political reasons” continued to be used to refuse extradition requests, “there will be no ratification of the IGC”.