| Author (Person) | Cronin, David |
|---|---|
| Series Title | European Voice |
| Series Details | Vol.9, No.43, 18.12.03, p14 |
| Publication Date | 18/12/2003 |
| Content Type | News |
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Date: 18/12/03 After the Italians, whose stint at the EU's helm was characterized by brouhaha, big ideas and very little else, the Irish promise a workable, practical presidency, as David Cronin reports THE most ruthless, the most devious, the most cunning of them all." It is rare to see a profile of Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Bertie Ahern, which omits those words of admiration (believe it or not) from his former party leader and mentor Charlie Haughey. Although Ahern's centrist Fianna Fáil has been beset by a series of corruption scandals in recent years, the congenial Dubliner retains his "can-do" approach to politics. Not one given to dewy-eyed pronouncements, the 52-year-old has instead demonstrated the patience needed to keep negotiations on prickly dossiers going until deals can be reached. In the 1980s and 1990s, he helped secure several accords with both employers and unions on national economic strategy, while in 1998 he proved his determination to conclude the Good Friday Agreement aimed at settling the Northern Ireland conflict, even though he was mourning his late mother at the time. So when Ahern says he will "have a go" at resurrecting talks on the draft EU constitution after they collapsed in Brussels last weekend, few would disbelieve his determination. However, even if he is as wily as Haughey claimed, it could prove impossible to break the logjam caused by the disagreement between Spain and Poland, in one camp, and France and Germany, in the other, on the voting system in the Council of Ministers. Europe's busy electoral agenda is likely to complicate his task - most notably the general election in Spain in March and the European Parliament poll in June. Indeed, the Irish will be at the EU's helm during a "winding down" period in legislative terms - as the mandates of MEPs and European commissioners will be reaching their expiry dates. Inevitably, this will hamper the scope for breakthroughs in the coming months. "It will be a time of renewal, with changes in the European Parliament and the Commission's end of mandate," notes Irish EU ambassador Anne Anderson. "This does not mean that we lack creativity. But we certainly wouldn't want to be a self-indulgent presidency. There is little point in us dreaming up dramatically new ideas, if we won't have the chance to process them through the European Parliament and Council. We will be very much focused on the business-in-hand." Nevertheless, the Irish presidency should be rich in symbolism. The ruling coalition has budgeted €3 million for an enormous celebration in Ireland on 1 May, the date when ten, mostly ex-communist, countries are due to join the EU. Ahern is hoping that leaders from the expanded Union will join him in Dublin to mark the event, while a range of cultural events involving artists from the both the new member states and Ireland are being planned. (On a light-hearted note, those wary of the "boy band" phenomenon are hoping that Westlife, which boasts Ahern's son-in-law in its ranks, will not be available on the day.) The other big photo-opportunity is likely to be the first visit by George W. Bush to southern Ireland (he flew into Belfast earlier this year for a war summit with British premier Tony Blair). The Irish are planning an EU-US summit in June and are eager that the American president will travel to their country for it. Earlier this month, Ahern pledged to work on rebuilding "trust and confidence" in transatlantic relations despite the "considerable tensions" at the moment on issues ranging from trade to the fight against terrorism. Yet he will probably be under domestic pressure not to be seen as totally uncritical towards the US. Opposition parties have seized on the recent decision by Paul Wolfowitz, US under-secretary of defense, to bar Irish (as well as French, German, Canadian and Russian) firms from competing for contracts on Iraq's reconstruction. Ahern's rivals say it is embarrassing that Ireland has been excluded after allowing US troops to use Shannon airport en route to Baghdad. Clearly rattled by slights from those such as Labour leader Pat Rabbitte, Ahern claimed during last weekend's Brussels summit that the government had actually opposed the war against Iraq (a boast regarded as disingenuous by many observers). On the other key issues of external relations, Ahern and Foreign Minister Brian Cowen will probably stick far more closely to the agreed EU line than Silvio Berlusconi did during the Italian presidency. While he may not take too hard a line against Russia over human rights abuses in Chechnya, it is unlikely, for example, that Ahern would repeat the Italian premier's gaffe of offering to defend Vladimir Putin against critics of Russian tactics in the secessionist republic. "Bertie doesn't have the same balls as Berlusconi," remarks one Brussels insider. "Bertie likes to be in with the big boys, whereas Berlusconi thinks he's a big boy in his own right." Meanwhile, it is conceivable the Irish will take a significantly more hardline approach with Israel than the Italians, whom Ariel Sharon has hailed as his best friends in Europe. Almost certainly Brian Cowen will not be emulating his Italian counterpart Franco Frattini by making any statement that could be considered as support for Israel's "security fence" deep in the Palestinian territories. Cowen is known to have more nuanced views on the Middle East conflict, informed by his travels in the region. He was on his way to a meeting with Yasser Arafat in Ramallah, for example, when he first learned of the 11 September 2001 atrocities and is reported to have forcefully impressed on the Palestinian Authority president the importance of condemning the attacks. More recently, Cowen was one of a handful of EU ministers who was reluctant to place Hamas on the Union's list of proscribed terrorist organizations, when the issue was debated in September, favouring a more gradual approach to a body which combines social work with political militancy. On the economic front, Ahern has written to fellow EU leaders acknowledging that progress towards the goal of making the EU the world's most competitive economy by 2010 is insufficient. He is seeking a "short but constructive" discussion at the 25-26 March EU summit in Brussels on how a new impetus can be given to the Lisbon agenda on economic reform, agreed in the Portuguese capital in 2000. Ironically, the task of chairing the debate on the future of the Stability and Growth Pact falls to Charlie McCreevy. In 2001 he became the first EU finance minister to be reprimanded by his counterparts for straying outside its budgetary confines. The recent decision by the Union's finance ministers not to proceed with legal action against France and Germany for breaching the deficit levels set by the pact effectively mean it has been ripped up. According to Anne Anderson, Ireland's job will be "to lower the decibel level" in the sometimes rancorous debate about these rules underpinning the single currency and "conduct things in a way that helps confidence". On justice and home affairs, the Irish are required to ensure that deadlines set in the Amsterdam Treaty, which came into effect in 1999, of introducing comprehensive measures on asylum and immigration by May next year, are respected. This could be tough - as the difficulties encountered in securing a deal on minimum standards for granting and withdrawing refugee standards by an agreed target date of the end of this year illustrate. Yet if the Irish are really determined to hit the deadlines, one factor in their favour is that Justice Minister Michael McDowell is among the most combative figures in his country's political scene. Hence his nickname - "the Rottweiler". Preview of Ireland's Presidency of the European Union which begins on 1 January 2004, with Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Bertie Ahern at the helm. |
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| Subject Categories | Politics and International Relations |
| Countries / Regions | Ireland |
