Vitality and recovery. I don't at all share in the image of an EU in total crisis or even on the brink of a sort of bankruptcy. On the contrary, I consider its vitality remarkable. It is true that it is up against difficulties, and sometimes serious ones, but the reason for this is essentially the colossal extension of the areas it handles. The first phase of European construction - that of the coal and steel community - meant definitive reconciliation between countries that had just torn one other apart in a terrible war. Then the move from the ECSC to the EEC represented a fundamental step in European unity. Yet in the beginning there was only one real common policy - the CAP for agriculture. Today, common policies cover all areas - even if one or two of them, such as energy, don't yet merit this definition Back then, we didn't even think about accomplishments like the Schengen area - let alone the single currency.
Then ambitions were gradually extended to so many other areas that their management became complex, and the successive geographical enlargements - which were positive and politically justified - have certainly not made the task easier. Reading through EUROPE, the only publication that reports on all Community activity, a brief survey of work that is currently on-going might perhaps be expedient.
Need for the multiannual financial framework. I well recall that Danuta Hübner - who now chairs the European Parliament's regional development committee after being the European commissioner for this same sector - described the idea of using the system of annual budgets if there is no multiannual framework as a “terrible mistake”, following a radical conflict between the Parliament and European Council. Ms Hübner (see EUROPE 10781) stressed that the cohesion policy needs this multiannual framework because the spending commitments decided at a particular moment need to materialise in the years ahead. Yet the automatic annual budget - in the absence of an adopted budget - does not allow commitments in years ahead. And it's an identical situation for all the multiannual budgetary commitments.
What is more, the common agricultural policy reform needs the new financial framework in order to become operational. The parliamentary vote on this reform is planned for next month and the new financial framework is crucial for the reform to materialise. The situation is similar with the common fisheries policy reform. The Parliament has already voted on this but its materialisation is still the subject of heated discussion and differences of opinion. It ought to pave the way for a system that is less favourable to large-scale, cruel industrial fishing, to one that is more respectful of the creatures of the sea and small-scale fishing.
Furthermore, it is true that the summit reduced the allocation for the interconnecting of member states (in comparison with what the Commission was proposing) - but without a multiannual budgetary framework there will be nothing at all because this concerns a new programme that doesn't yet exist.
Projects under way. Another new project which would be compromised is that of the financial transaction tax - an old dream which will materialise between 11 member states as enhanced cooperation, for which the European Commission made a detailed proposal this Thursday (see EUROPE 10769, 10783, 10785 and today's edition).
And let's not forget the sectors where cooperation between the institutions, and European Council too, is crucial for progress. The treaty of the first European community, the ECSC, totally expired two years ago and detailed work is now under way to establish new disciplines for the steel sector - which is difficult and controversial. New common policies are even being developed in the most diverse of fields - for example, the fashion and clothing sector, which provides 5 million jobs for the EU but which is subjected to the scourge of counterfeiting. Half the counterfeit products seized by customs entering Europe belong to this sector! The European Commission intends to finance actions especially aiming to counter these fake products which invade Europe.
False and ridiculous image. The announcement of the negotiation of a free trade agreement with the United States (see EUROPE 10785) is also a very telling sign of Europe's vitality. The image of an EU in full decadence - indeed even on the way to disappearing - is not only exaggerated but quite simply false and ridiculous. While recognising the validity and interest of Alain Lamassoure's comments in the interview that we published yesterday, I bet that the EU will overcome its current difficulties.
(FR/transl.fl)