A tricky task. It will not be easy for historians of the future to decide what to make of this European Council on 16 September 2010. Those who rely on official documents and archives will write that heads of state and government focused on the EU's foreign policy and also European economic governance to a slight extent, because not one word of the official conclusions document mentions the Roma or immigration problems. Historians, however, who rely on accounts in the media and eye-witness accounts by participants, will write that the heads of state and government clashed, sometimes fiercely, on the question of the Roma and illegal aliens. They will need to be wary of journalists and commentators who got carried away by the rhetoric and wrote some untruths about how Europe operates. The only historians who will be able to get near the truth will be those who rely on this press agency, Agence Europe, as a key source for describing the history of the European project.
Returning to the correct route. Herman Van Rompuy announced “we will talk about the problem of the Roma at a future European Council”. As the president of the European Council, it is his job to decide on future agendas; he will do what he has announced; at that time we will see what the official conclusions are. Informal talks over dinner on Thursday got very heated at times and it is understandable that much of the media focused on this, but it also had the advantage of correcting or at least reducing a number of “deviations” (to use moderate language) away from EU orthodoxy. To remind readers of some of them - confusing members of the Commission with their country of origin (Jean-Claude Juncker pointed out that he very rarely had any contact with fellow Luxembourger, European Commissioner Viviane Reding, and he hoped that it could be the same for all politicians and commissioners); France confirmed that it has changed the law that explicitly mentioned the Roma as the priority community for deportation; Nicolas Sarkozy said that France would continue to act strictly within EU law and admitted that the European Commission's role was to ensure respect of the EU Treaty, that it was entitled to ask questions, that France would answer them and that if there were any errors, “we will, of course, correct them”. Comments like this show that it is not true that some member states are trying to destroy the EU institutional system and solidarity among member states. We may highlight the bitterness of the debate and various unpleasant remarks, but we should not ignore the positive aspects. I will be returning in my column to the problem of complex and sensitive issues surrounding illegal aliens.
Foreign relations. The official conclusions document for the European Council states what was expected in the section on foreign affairs. The summit laid down guidelines and general principles on the role of the EU on the world stage and the fact it should have greater influence in the world. The member states admitted that Europe does not pull the weight it should when it speaks as a single body, pointing out that the EU is still the biggest provider of aid for poor countries (these countries should not forget it) and the biggest world trading power, confirming the intention to strengthen the EU's common security and defence policy. The European Council said that it would soon be re-examining its intentions about stabilisation of the Balkan states and said it would regularly set out at head of state level (constant concern to boost the role of heads of state as an EU institution) clear strategic guidelines “ahead of important events”. The conclusions document gives a brief pre-taste of this for the upcoming summits with China, South Korea and, later, India, and also for the G20 summit in South Korea, announcing that next month, the European Council will lay down political messages to be submitted to the November summit with President Obama (where the EU will be represented by Herman Van Rompuy and Jose Manuel. Barroso).
Phase Two. The conclusions document gives very little away about the second official subject of the European summit, economic governance; our readers will find far more information in yesterday's newsletter about the world of the taskforce chaired by Van Rompuy, particularly on the need to partially separate eurozone countries from other countries and the need for Phase Two, in which the taskforce itself would discuss aspects of economic governance that require changes to the EU Treaty.
(F.R..transl/fl)