No enlargement crisis…except for Flanders

THE EU closes out its year with another episode of "Slouching Towards Christmas".

Fortunately, actual events at its December summit do not quite live up to the traditional "crisis talks" headlines - including that hardy perennial, "No Turkey for Christmas" - that usually define British press coverage.

Instead, calm reflection reigns, punctuated by a promise from the incoming German presidency to revive the derailed EU constitution. First, reaction to the summit as it pertains to the future of the bloc and its member states.

"The 25 have decided to make an indefinite pause in the enlargement of the EU," reports Spain’s El País, "at least until they resolve their internal institutional problems".

France’s La Montagne puts it more bluntly. "Aware of their current limitations, the 25 are dragging their feet on enlargement," its editors write. "For them to admit new countries before putting in place rules enabling the EU to operate harmoniously means taking a big risk. Since they failed to do this before the 2005 [sic] ‘big-bang’, they are today close to paralysis."

Austria’s Der Standard issues a rallying cry for sweeping institutional action. "We all urgently need a strong European Parliament and a strong European Commission," it argues, "and why not also a powerful, elected EU government? If Europe does not function, citizens will suffer as a result."

A newspaper in a country hoping to join the EU, Croatia’s Novi List, diagnoses the problem. "Over the past year, the EU has been in the throes of a crisis and not only an institutional one," it writes, according to the BBC translation service. "Today’s Europe does not know where its borders are and, despite the years of successful growth, it now talks of enlargement fatigue and is hesitating to continue this trend."

Summing it all up is Austria’s Die Presse: "Who needs an event where the fact that ultimately zilch was achieved is seen as a success?" The EU, that’s who!

As for Germany’s intention to revive the constitution, Deutsche Welle reports: "Less than two weeks before Germany assumes the EU presidency, the country wants the ailing EU treaty back on track as some warn that indecision is a ‘warning sign that Europe is paralysed’."

France’s Le Figaro has news of a poll showing increasing resistance to expansion of the Union. "The countries of ‘Old Europe’, such as France, Germany or the Netherlands, aren’t the only ones in the EU which argue against enlargement," the paper reveals. "As Bulgaria and Romania prepare to join on 1 January, a new Eurobarometer survey…shows scepticism is growing in Britain and Spain, which have usually favoured the entry of new members."

From its lofty Parisian perch, Le Monde comments on the bizarre events in Belgium last week, when a state news programme reported that Flanders was declaring its independence. "Criticised at first by the political world, the [broadcasters] may actually achieve their goal: sensitising francophone opinion to the risk of an eventual Flemish secession."

It adds that once the shock factor of the fake news report had passed, "Belgians mostly supported the bold initiative shown by the news channel".

Well here’s a thought with which to stuff your stocking: would Flanders be allowed into the EU?

THE EU closes out its year with another episode of "Slouching Towards Christmas".