José Manuel Barroso and Herman Van Rompuy working together… I don't suppose the comments I've made recently have had anything to do with it, but I notice that the president of the Commission and the President of the European Council have published a joint document to be negotiated at the 11 March summit on economic and monetary coordination in the eurozone (the document is attached to EUROPE 10327). This is a positive decision and makes perfect sense because the European Council and the European Commission will both be involved, in different ways, in implementing decisions made on 11 March by eurozone heads of state. Anything that gave the impression of a “clash of two legitimate forces” would be bad for the institutional workings of the European Union and the fact that the two leaders have written the document together, each within his own powers, will prevent such a danger emerging.
…and Barroso taking a stand. At the same time, the president of the Commission is insistently demanding that Colonel Gaddafi stand down. Barroso is mooting a “Democracy Pact” with Mediterranean countries interested in democracy and is earmarking significant finance for such countries. He is also suggesting a visa facilitation system for students, researchers and businessmen and women to help North African countries become open societies, and he is refusing to go along with the June 2011 deadline (chosen by the chair of the Council) for concluding the EU accession talks with Croatia. At his last press conference, we saw a vibrant Barroso, full of initiative and brimming with new ideas, and in the past, I have pointed that he has taken a strong stand against Vladimir Putin over the EU energy policy controversy. I am not suggesting that Barroso and Van Rompuy have ironed out all their differences, but it is clear that they want to.
Nicolas Sarkozy's odd attempt. It is very odd, if not downright weird, to see Nicolas Sarkozy's determination to try and get people to believe that the Union for the Mediterranean is still alive and kicking, with new aims and rules of operation to boot! The word “Union” has special meaning when it comes to Europe but in relation to the UfM, it was supposed to mean lengthy talks and a raft of adjustments to create a Union between the EU and all non-EU Mediterranean countries. Sarkozy's latest version of it, as set out by himself (he has announced that a detailed document will be unveiled shortly) is a series of bilateral arrangements between the EU and either all or some non-EU Mediterranean countries that meet certain criteria. This is far from a Union between the EU and the Mediterranean countries as a whole. Wacky and one-sided interpretations of his ideas are already being made, like the idea of excluding Israel (to avoid disagreements arising within the misnamed EuroMed Union), or Turkey's plan to stay out of all this because it wants to join the EU (or be totally autonomous). It is certainly not being interpreted as anything that could properly be described as a “Union”.
We hope that non-EU countries around the Mediterranean, particularly those making the transition to democracy, will ignore the misnamed Union that Sarkozy wants to strap to a life-support machine.
Turkish Cypriots call on Turkish soldiers to go home. Nobody expected this - I certainly didn't, at any rate. Turkish Cypriots have being holding mass demonstrations against the occupation of the northern part of Cyprus by the Turkish army. The organisers explain that they are grateful to Turkey for rescuing them from the Greek Cypriots in the past but Turkey should now leave them in peace and let them run things for themselves. Their slogan? Neither Turkey's hostages nor devoured by Greek Cypriots.
The Turkish army has been occupying the area since 1974, and has no fewer than 300,000 soldiers. In 1983, it set up a Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which is not recognised by any country other than Turkey itself. The demonstrators fear that their very existence as Turkish Cypriots is under threat and they complain about the regular floods of Turks coming over from Anatolia and wanting to “take over”. Some even go as far as describing Turkey as an occupying, colonial force.
Material interests come into play here, of course, because Turkish Cypriot officials earn more than their counterparts in Turkey and they believe it would be easier to reach agreement with the Greek part of Cyprus if the Turkish occupation was less visible and the “pseudo autonomous republic” was less of an irritant.
This is another issue that certainly doesn't argue for Turkey joining the EU.
(F.R./transl.fl)