Time to recharge the batteries

Date: 01/08/1996

AS all but a handful of staff at the European Commission, Council of Ministers and Parliament pack their bags for the summer holidays, they could be forgiven for breathing a huge sigh of relief.

After all, it has been a tough year so far for all those who work at the EU coal face.

As the debate continues to rage over whether enough member states can achieve the targets for entry into the single currency zone to meet the 1 January 1999 deadline for economic and monetary union, fresh doubts have been thrown over the future development of the EU by the UK's disruption of Union business on a grand scale in the battle over beef.

The fact that British Prime Minister John Major eventually backed down without all that much to show for his grand-standing and an immediate crisis was averted provided only a crumb of comfort for those dismayed by this display of overt aggression.

Growing concern has also been expressed at the slow - some would say, non-existent - progress of the Intergovernmental Conference negotiations, despite all the hype which preceded the start of the talks.

The two issues are closely interlinked. For the UK's policy of non-cooperation has highlighted one of the key questions which must be answered during the current round of IGC negotiations - namely, what can be done to ensure that those member states which want to go further, and faster, than others are able to do so instead of remaining at the mercy of one recalcitrant member state.

Most predict that this will be the last - and most crucial - subject which the IGC will address, given the huge sensitivity of the issue.

The Irish government will face an enormous challenge as its EU presidency gets into its stride in the autumn. It must find a way to step up the momentum of the IGC talks without antagonising those member states most reluctant to countenance radical reform, or run the risk that they will simply veto anything put on the table. It must do all it can to boost the credibility of the single currency plan while trying to settle, once and for all, the highly sensitive question of what ground rules will govern the relationship between the EMU 'ins' and 'outs'.

These are unenviable tasks - and ones for which all those who work inside the EU institutions will need all the energy they can muster.