| Author (Person) | Davies, Eric | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Publisher | ProQuest Information and Learning | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Series Title | In Focus | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Series Details | 11.12.00 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Publication Date | 09/12/2000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Content Type | News, Overview, Topic Guide | In Focus | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The longest ever European Council was held in Nice between 7-11 December 2000. The meeting was effectively a two-part affair: the business of the 'normal' European Council was completed by the end of the second day; leaders then moved on to tackle a number of contentious issues associated with the institutional reforms required to prepare the Union for enlargement. After a marathon 18-hour final session which spilled over into early Monday morning, this element of the Summit finally resulted in the Member States adopting a new Treaty - the Treaty of Nice. The meeting opened with a speech by Mrs Nicole Fontaine, President of the European Parliament, in which she addressed the main topics for discussion. The Presidency Conclusions issued on Friday, 8 December, set out the decisions of the European Council under the following main headings: I. Charter of Fundamental Rights II. Enlargement III. Common European Security and Defence Policy IV. A new impetus for an economic and social Europe V. Citizens' Europe VI. External relations At 4.30 a.m. local time on Monday, 11 December, leaders announced that the text of a new Treaty had been agreed. Background Amongst the issues addressed by the Nice Summit, the most significant and contentious were:
To the surprise of many observers, agreements on a Charter of Fundamental Rights and on the establishment of a European defence force were reached relatively quickly. Much preparatory work had already been done on both issues. The text of the Charter of Fundamental Rights was drafted by a 'Convention' comprising Members of the European Parliament, a member of the European Commission, and representatives of the European Council and national parliaments. It first met in December 1999. (For further details, see In Focus: Development of a military capability was discussed at the Helsinki European Council (see In Focus: Enlargement is the driving force behind the need to reform the way the Union works. Decision-making for a 15-member Union can be difficult enough - witness the outcome at Nice. With the prospect of membership approaching 30 over the next few years, it is accepted that the decision-making machinery devised in the early 1950s for an original six participants would simply be too cumbersome for a modern Union. There are, however, many highly contentious issues to be resolved, including: - size and composition of the Commission. There are currently 20 Commissioners (including the President), with larger Member States having two and smaller Members having one. Prior to the Nice Summit, it was thought by some that the number of Commissioners would be limited to 20, with no Member having more than one and, at any given time, some States having no representative on the Commission. - weighting of votes in the Council. Smaller countries have argued that they lose out to their larger neighbours, because of the way votes are currently distributed. The larger Member States naturally wish to retain their relative power. - extension of qualified-majority voting. QMV is now used for decision-making in many areas of policy. However, there are still issues upon which Members have the right of veto - including taxation and social security. Countries with a more Euro-sceptic electorate - such as the UK - want to retain the veto; others would like to see QMV further extended. Discussions on these and other issues concerning the institutions' preparedness for enlargement, formally started when an Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) was convened in February 2000. Decisions taken at Nice (Frequent references are made below to future meetings of the European Council. Those currently scheduled under the Swedish Presidency are: Stockholm, 23-24.3.2001 - Special Meeting of the European Council; Göteborg, 15-16.6.2001 - European Council).
The Charter was formally proclaimed by the Council, the European Parliament and the Commission. The text of the Charter brings together "the civil, political, economic, social and societal rights hitherto laid down in a variety of international, European or national sources". Whilst suggesting that the Charter be "disseminated as widely as possible amongst the Union's citizens", leaders avoided the question of the Charter's legal status.
The European Council endorsed the General Affairs Council conclusions of 4 December 2000 [French] on the Commission's proposed strategy for enlargement, and emphasised that "those countries which are the best prepared will continue to be able to progress more quickly". The strategy will be reviewed in June 2001 at the Göteborg European Council. The European Council suggested that countries joining the Union from the end of 2002 would be able to take part in the next European Parliament elections. The Commission was asked to propose a programme for strengthening the economic competitiveness of frontier regions. Turkey's progress in implementing the pre-accession strategy was welcomed, and it was requested to submit its national programme for adoption of the acquis.
The European Council approved the Presidency report on the European Security and Defence Policy. The Swedish Presidency was invited to ensure that the Union's operational capability be enabled as quickly as possible. A further decision is to be taken by the European Council "as soon as possible in 2001".
A. Social Europe Social Agenda A European Social Agenda was approved. The text annexed to the Presidency Conclusions defines priorities for action on social policy over the next five years, based on six strategic guidelines: I. More and better jobs II. Anticipating and capitalising on change in the working environment by creating a new balance between flexibility and security. III. Fighting poverty and all forms of exclusion and discrimination in order to promote social integration IV. Modernising social protection V. Promoting gender equality VI. Strengthening the social policy aspects of enlargement and the European Union's external relations. Progress in implementing the Agenda will be reviewed by the European Council each spring, beginning with the Stockholm Summit in March 2001. Other social policy issues discussed included: B. Europe based on innovation and knowledge eEurope 2002 Plan Interim reports on the implementation of the Plan were noted; further discussions will take place at the Stockholm Summit. Research and innovation The Commission was asked to submit an initial report on progress made in achieving a European Area of Research and Innovation to the Stockholm European Council. C. Coordination of economic policies The euro With reference to the euro, the European Council welcomed "improvements made to the workings of the Eurogroup", including the intention to extend the range of matters it deals with. Leaders noted the progress made in preparing for the introduction of euro coins and notes, and asked for preparatory work to be speeded up. A number of key dates were identified: September 2001 - presentation of euro coins and notes; mid-December 2001 - making euro coins available to individuals; 31 December 2001 - introduction of euro coins and notes at midnight. Tax package The European Council welcomed agreement on the 'tax package', following the Feira Summit, and agreed that the Presidency and Commission will report on it to the European Council meeting in Göteborg. Other economic policy topics included structural indicators and the regulation of financial markets. D. Preparation for the spring European Council In Stockholm, March 2001, the European Council will hold its first regular spring meeting specially devoted to the examination of economic and social matters on the basis of the synthesis report prepared by the Commission and relevant reports from the Council.
This section of the Presidency Conclusions encompassed a wide range of topics: Consumer health and safety, BSE, Maritime safety, Environment, Services of general interest, Security of Union supplies in certain products, Area of freedom, security and justice, Europe of culture, Outermost regions, Island regions. Amongst the decisions taken and statements made were the following: Consumer health and safety - the European Council invited the Council and Parliament to speed up work so that the future European Food Authority may become operational as from the beginning of 2002. Environment - with reference to climate change, leaders expressed regret that it was not possible to reach agreement at the conference in The Hague; the European Council supports the proposal to hold further (informal) discussions in Oslo before the end of 2000. Concerning environment and sustainable development, the Summit decided that a European sustainable development strategy will be examined by the Göteborg European Council. Asylum and immigration - the European Council noted progress on the policy established at Tampere, and asked "that the last remaining problems concerning the texts aimed at combating the traffic in human beings and illegal immigration be settled as soon as possible. . ."
Topics included: The following annexes were attached to the Presidency Conclusions: Annex I European social agenda; Annex II Statement on services of general interest; Annex III Council Resolution on the precautionary principle; Annex IV Declaration on the specific characteristics of sport and its social function in Europe, of which account should be taken in implementing common policies; Annex V Council Resolution concerning an action plan for mobility; Annex VI Documents submitted to the European Council in Nice. The Treaty of Nice At the time of writing, there was no official text of the new Treaty available. However, early news reports suggested that the following major points had been agreed: The relative strength of the larger Member States will be enhanced, as they gain more votes in the Council of Ministers. Under the new mechanism, a majority will require 74.6&percent; of votes, rather than the previous 62&percent;.
Qualified Majority Voting (QMV) will be extended to a number of areas previously subject to national vetoes. The areas still subject to veto are: On enlargement, no target date was set for expansion, although leaders said they hoped to open the doors before the next European Parliament elections in June 2004. (This appears to contradict previous statements to the effect that enlargement would commence from the end of 2002). Further information within European Sources Online: European Sources Online: Topic Guides: European Sources Online: In Focus: [Note: Topic Guides are periodically updated: if these links do not work, you can find the updated version by linking to Topic Guides: EU Institutions]. European Sources Online: European Voice: Business Guide to EU Initiatives, October 2000 The Penguin Companion to European Union, October 2000 Glossary - Institutions, policies and enlargement of the European Union (European Commission, 1999) Further information can be seen in these external links: Council of the European Union European Parliament European Commission: European Commission: Press Release: DOC/00/30 European Commission: Press Release: SPEECH/00/475 European Commission: Press Release: IP/00/1148 Representation in the United Kingdom BBC News Nice Summit 7.12.00: Fears of a European superstate 20.11.00: Euro army explained Guardian Unlimited: Special Report: European Integration Interactive guide: European integration 20.11.00: The European Rapid Reaction Force FT.com The European Policy Centre Further and subsequent information on the subject of this week's In Focus can be found by an 'Advanced Search' in European Sources Online by inserting 'nice' AND 'council or treaty or summit' in the keyword field. Eric Davies Discussion of events and achievements at the Nice European Council held in December 2000. |
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| Subject Categories | Politics and International Relations | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Countries / Regions | France | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
