A few other considerations and observations can be added to the three comments focusing on the enlarged role of the European Council and the demand for balance between the Community institutions.
1. According to its president, the European Council is already the “economic government” of the EU. Herman Van Rompuy considers that his vision of the role of the European Council has already been accepted, at least with regard to one fundamental aspect, that of the economic governance of the Union. In his speech made on 25 February to the College of Europe in Bruges, he declared that the first result achieved by the summit on 11 of February was “the European Council becoming the economic government of the Union” and that the economic and financial crisis is imposing a move forward in this direction. With his fundamental principle being that he will never express his own personal opinions but those of the institution he presides over, it should subsequently be deduced that the European Council has effectively decided to assume this responsibility, and its action is consequently a result of this fact.
Obviously, what has been accepted is the principle underlining the role of the European Council. The modalities and, above all, the contents of the policies still require definition. The most urgent aspects are - in the case of Greece and new EU discipline for the financial community - currently being worked on in the competent ministerial bodies, the Ecofin Council and Eurogroup, in liaison with the European Commission. In these negotiations, Germany and France are coordinating their positions at all levels. This is very positive because, originally, the positions of the two countries diverged considerably. Germany was distrustful of any binding European interference in economic policy. And the role of the EP should never be ignored.
2. Indispensable external dimension. Mr Van Rompuy explained that the economic government of the EU should present common European positions within the international bodies, which, like the G20, represent a step towards global economic governance. The president was not expressing a personal opinion (which would be contrary to his principles) but is making an observation: the external dimension of internal economic government is indispensable. Economic policy co-ordinated from within the EU, without common positions towards the outside world, would not be able to work. For example, in the globalised economy, banking regulation is not an internal matter but a question for the international community. The EU is already negotiating as a comprehensive unit on trade questions and must do likewise for external economic relations: Europe must speak with a single voice. The G20 is the appropriate forum for doing this (the European Council and Commission participate within it at the highest level, as do the member states) and the European Council is well placed for preparing European positions. Mr Van Rompuy also said that the eurozone must reflect its own unified representation in institutions such as the IMF (International Monetary Fund) whereas, for the time being, member states are present on this body in an individual capacity.
3. What the EIB can do for Greece. The president of the European Investment Bank, Philippe Maystadt, put forward his balance sheet for the bank's activities in 2009 and pointed out that the EIB cannot grant direct loans to a member state experiencing difficulties but it can finance investment in that country (EUROPE 10086). One possibility would be for the EIB to provide Greece with resources for financing some of the EU's structural interventions. Subsidies from these funds would in effect be subject to the conditions beneficiary countries participating in the funding face; the EIB could borrow on the markets at far lower rates than those demanded from Greece. This would involve an amount in 2010 of between €1 and 2 billion in customary loan models. A modest but practical amount.
4. If the dream of Nigel Farage comes true… The stated aim of an MEP who subjected Herman Van Rompuy to a tirade of insults last week, wants his country, the United Kingdom, to leave the European Union. If his dream comes true, he himself will no longer have the opportunity to express his views anywhere as a delegate of his people because his party does not have a single MP in the House of Commons! Given the first past the post electoral system in the United Kingdom, it does not look like he will have a representative any time soon. This actually means that the only chance of him getting elected is at the European Parliament, where there is proportional representation. So it would be goodbye to getting a hearing from any of the authorities throughout Europe and an end to publicity because of his insulting language, as well as an end to him being able to disseminate his anti-European ideas on the European mainland where so many other counties are fighting to join up. If the citizens of his country follow his line, the door for leaving the EU is open to them and at the same time his political career would be over. (F.R./transl.fl)