Prodi launches counter-attack against Giscard proposals

Date: 15/05/03

By Dana Spinant

ROMANO Prodi has hit back at Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, head of the Convention on Europe's future, for treating the European Commission with what he regards as disdain.

Speaking exclusively to European Voice on the eve of a crucial debate in the Convention on power-sharing between the institutions, Prodi threw down the gauntlet to the former French president.

"The Commission is the EU's government: we can discuss the details, but this is the starting point," he said.

The Commission president admitted he was shocked by Giscard's initial proposal on institutions which had treated the Commission as "a mere agency whose task was the internal market".

"He never tried to hide what he thought of the Commission," added the Italian, who has accepted a challenge from Giscard to debate the issues in public.

Prodi made it plain that he wants his successor as head of the Commission to chair the European Council.

He insists his plan to merge the posts of president of the Commission and of the European Council is the best solution for the EU.

The idea has not won the support of his Commission colleagues, and Prodi admits it is unlikely to win general backing in the Convention. As a compromise, he suggests that an 'evolutionary clause' should be incorporated into the constitution enabling the posts to be merged at a later stage.

"We must at least adopt the decision now and apply it later. But decisions must be taken in order to allow this evolution to take place," he stressed.

An elected president of the European Council, as proposed by Giscard's praesidium, would only lead to stalemate as he or she would become a rival to the Commission president - "an eternal cohabitation".

"Even if cohabitation can work on the national scene, in France, it would be a disaster in Europe. It is not possible to adopt 'shared decisions' in the EU," Prodi warned.

A European Council president would duplicate bureaucracies and powers. He urged Giscard to "listen to the Convention".

"If you look at amendments [to the praesidium text] you will see that the majority are against such a president."

Prodi maintains that the public debate between himself and Giscard must take place in the Convention: "Any other stage [Giscard proposed Stuttgart yesterday] would deviate the debate and the Convention from its tasks," he explained. Looking ahead to the long term, the 64-year-old said it was his dream that his granddaughter, Maria Chiara, would see future Commission presidents elected by the direct vote of EU citizens.

"It is a likely evolution, but this will not happen in my generation, nor in that of my son. Maybe in my granddaughter's."

He acknowledged that organizing such an election would be fraught with difficulty, particularly because of the language problem.

Prodi predicted that the Convention was potentially entering dangerous waters, with just four weeks left to find consensus before its conclusions are put to EU leaders at the Thessaloniki summit on 20 June.

He hopes agreement will be found on a single text, in order to avoid presenting the leaders with a set of options.

However, he suggested that scenario might suit some member states who could then start negotiations on the future of Europe from scratch during the intergovernmental conference (IGC) that will be convened in the second part of the year.

Prodi admitted that the Commission and its existing powers were "in danger" under the initial proposal presented by Giscard.

"There is no danger anymore," he added, "as the praesidium has already changed it substantially - and the plenary will continue doing so".

While accepting that the Commission has had a difficult relationship with the large member states in recent years, he would not go as far as describing it as one of "mistrust".

He underlined the Commission's determination to protect the small and medium-sized member states.

"As the EU is a Union of minorities, the Commission must ensure that no one is in the despised minority, but enjoys full rights. Large states need it less.

"But if the Commission is not allowed to do that, there is a catastrophe," he warned.

The crucial question for Prodi is whether the Commission enters "high politics" or merely contents itself with taking care of economic and trade issues.

The Italian is in no doubt that the EU must play a role in the highest political spheres.

"Iraq obliged us to see that, in order to survive, we need a European centre of decision.

"Where we have had such a centre of decision, progress has been tremendous. The euro, for example, brought huge and concrete global visibility for Europe.

"Citizens expect Europe to reassure them on the big problems of the future, not only on the regulatory details. So the EU must enter high politics."

Following the "euro miracle", the next step was to build a serious common foreign and security policy: "It will be achieved, because that is the only possible way for Europe to survive, to exist in partnership with the US, China."

The single currency alone could not create his vision of a "political Europe".

"You need decision-making powers on a common foreign and security policy as well. This is not possible if the veto right is kept."

Prodi said the construction of a political Europe "would also be helped by British membership of the single currency". But he said he understood the soul-searching going on in the UK about adopting the euro.

"The difficulty is that the British people understand that it is not solely an economic matter, but one of the biggest political decisions in their history. I very well understand their debate, which goes beyond economics."

Looking ahead to the Italian presidency of the EU, starting on 1 July, Prodi pledged that the Commission "will cooperate well" with Rome.

Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian prime minister, triggered a major row with Prodi earlier this month after claiming, during a corruption trial, that the Commission chief had failed to keep his hands clean when he headed the Italian state holding company IRI in 1985.

Prodi, who issued a detailed rebuttal of the allegations, said he would not let their rift overshadow the presidency.

"There is no personal level when working in the European institutions," he added.

On the subject of his plans after his term ends in November next year, Prodi was adamant that he has not made up his mind whether to return to Italian politics or to seek a second mandate as Commission's president.

"All options are open including retirement," he said.

Looking back over the past four years, Prodi said he had enjoyed the job, apart from the first year.

"That was very difficult," he candidly admitted, "but with the passing of the time, the Commission delivered and it works well as a team now. I have very much enjoyed the last two years."

The role of Commission president is a challenge: "It has nothing to do with national politics. You need imagination, ability to predict the future, and to anticipate. It is a risky job."

So does that mean he will be going for that second mandate or not?

Prodi smiles enigmatically. Maybe only his granddaughter knows the answer to that question.

Romano Prodi, President of the European Commission, has warned Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, the head of the European Convention, not to undermine the role of the European Commission in plans to reform the institutions that govern the EU.