IGC in rescue bid over constitution

Date: 22/01/04

EU FOREIGN ministers will try to resuscitate talks on the European constitution, which collapsed in rancour at last month's Brussels summit, when they return to the Belgian capital on Monday (26 January).

"The meeting is about checking whether the patient, the constitution, is in intensive care, or only has a hangover," an Irish diplomat told this newspaper.

"But the Brussels hangover risks lasting a long time if we don't resume consultations quickly," he added.

Monday's meeting is seen as a stocktaking exercise, with no concrete results expected. "After the bilateral contacts carried out recently by the presidency, we expect [Irish Foreign Minister] Brian Cowen to tell us what the general mood is," one participant to the intergovernmental conference

(IGC) said.

The biggest bone of contention on the IGC's agenda will be the weighting of votes in the Council of Ministers. The summit talks collapsed because Poland and Spain refused to accept a new double majority system of voting, under which laws will require the support of half the member states representing 60% of the EU population to win approval.

In an exclusive interview with this paper (Page 13), Poland's first post-communist president, Solidarity leader Lech Walesa, strongly attacks the inflexible stance of his country's government over the constitution.

"I have never heard of greater rubbish than a call to defend the "Nice Treaty or die" position," he said.

Jean-Claude Juncker, prime minister of Luxembourg, warns that there were numerous "hidden disagreements" on the constitution, which also scuppered a deal. These, he says, include the justice and home affairs package, the adoption by qualified majority of the financial perspectives, social policy and taxation.

Meanwhile, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, president of the Convention on the future of the EU, has stepped up his campaign to defend the constitution. The former French president is set to launch a strong message at the Congress of the European People's Party on 5 February, urging member states to adopt the Convention" draft without substantial changes.

Preview of the IGC issues to be discussed at the General Affairs and External Relations Council, Brussels, 26-27 January 2004.