Poles to insist on Christianity in constitution

Date: 11/09/03

By David Cronin in Krynica, Poland

SECURING a reference to Europe's Christian heritage in the EU's constitution and maintaining current rules on the number of commissioners are set to be Poland's top objectives in the forthcoming intergovernmental conference (IGC).

Even though the draft constitution prepared by the future of Europe Convention recognizes the importance of 'spiritual values' to many EU citizens, the predominantly Catholic Poles are adamant its preamble should contain a more explicit allusion to Christianity. "The concept of 'spiritual values' is a bit vague," said one Polish diplomat.

Former premier Józef Oleksy, who was one of Poland's representatives on the Convention, said his country's demand is "not a question of religion and the Catholic Church but that there is some kind of realization that Christian civilization is very important".

However, his Convention colleague and current Europe Minister Danuta Hübner said: "This is important for Catholics in Poland so we might raise this issue" during the IGC, due to be launched in Rome on 4 October.

Both Oleksy and Hübner identified the question of how many members the European Commission will have at its top table as the other key issue for Poland, by far the biggest of the ten states due to join the Union next year.

The draft treaty proposes that the number of commissioners with full voting rights should be limited to just 13 from 2009 provided the jobs are rotated on the basis of equality between EU countries. The Commission would also be able to have additional non-voting commissioners.

The Poles are arguing instead that the current provisions in the Nice Treaty should be preserved. These guarantee that each member state will have the right to have at least one commissioner until 1 January 2005 but say that the overall number of commissioners must not exceed the number of member states once the latter hits 27.

"One commissioner per country is something we should have got," said Hübner. "If the size is too big, we can structure the Commission so that it can be efficient, in spite of the fact it would have 27 members."

Hübner added that she would like the IGC to be concluded in the first half of next year - ideally, some time before the European Parliament elections in June. "A short IGC would be important for the success of the whole process [of finalizing a constitution]. But if it is extended, it might be a failure."