Nice, 07/12/2000 (Agence Europe) - Michel Barnier, European Commissioner for Institutional Reform, commented to the press on Thursday on the "draft Treaty" that the European Council delegations in Nice had before them on the table with a view to negotiations on Friday and Saturday. He affirmed that President Prodi, who had met President Chirac and Prime Minister Jospin that same morning, planned to call for one last collective effort from everyone so that a "correct" agreement would be reached in Nice.
Mr Barnier noted that this last text does not contain suggestions on the composition of the Commission, nor on re-weighting of votes in Council. He explained as follows:
European Commission. It is an acquired fact that, after Nice, there will be one Commissioner per Member State, and that each new Member State will also have one Commissioner, but that, from a given moment in time or given date (A Union of 25 or 27 members, 2010?), there will be a Commission with a fixed number of Commissioners and "strictly egalitarian" rotation. Mr Barnier recalled that the Commission demonstrated that a Commission with such a ceiling, in a 28-member Union, would have one Commissioner five mandates out of seven (hence, during 25 years out of 35 years), and that it would never be excluded from the Commission during two consecutive terms of office. At any rate, in an enlarged Union, the Commission would have to be thoroughly reformed, remarked Mr Barnier, who believes the president of a Commission with 25 to 30 members would no doubt have to behave "more like a prime minister".
Weighting of votes in Council. According to Mr Barnier, currently about ten Member States are in favour of "double simple majority", which was proposed by the Commission and which has the advantage of being "legitimate" and "simple". At any rate, if there is re-weighting, he added, he felt sure there would be a "key" to be respected, that is, that no decision may be taken by qualified majority against "half the Member States". The Treaty of Nice, said Mr Barnier, must respect the spirit of the Treaty of Rome, which had established an "intelligent political balance" between Member States. This reform is "not a project, it is a tool to the service of a project", he stressed.
Furthermore, Mr Barnier raised two issues on which the Commission will insist in Nice, namely:
Extension of qualified majority. This should, according to Commission proposals, concern about forty articles, "which is good, but not enough". According to the Commission, there is "effort to be made" on - "five operational policies", namely: asylum and immigration (the last Presidency text provides for qualified majority five years after enforcement of the Treaty, instead of early May 2004 as initially proposed); - coordination of social policies; - cohesion and regional policy; - "several technical subjects of taxation policy" (double taxation, tax borders, fight against fraud); - trade negotiations.
Enhanced cooperation. The Commission considers it must also play its role in the second pillar, even though its role would be different from the first pillar, and it must be able to give "its opinion on the grounds for and the coherence of enhanced cooperation" in this context, with Community policies. (The Presidency, in the Draft Treaty presented in Nice, has slightly amended "Clause J", pointing out that, in the second pillar, enhanced cooperation may "solely" - an addition made to take British concerns especially into account - cover: the implementation of joint action or a common position; initiatives on armaments (also an addition); initiatives in the security and defence field contributing to the acquisition of crisis management capabilities. The Commission has a role to play in the civilian management of crises, recalled Mr Barnier, who added that, with respect to armaments cooperation, it would be necessary to ensure coherence with the first pillar and above all with competition policy. The Commissioner said he hoped there would be an agreement on this from the British and also from other countries which have reservation. On the other hand, in response to a question raised, he felt single currency cannot be enhanced cooperation. Enhanced cooperation will apply to "new policies, beyond the acquis" while the euro is "the tool of the single market", he said.
Regarding "post-Nice", Mr Barnier said he was "not shocked" by the Italian-German proposal although he does wonder whether dates should be fixed. In his view, a new conference in 2003 or 2004 seems "reasonable", but preparation takes around one year. The European Commission could contribute to such preparation with the Council Presidency, with a view to completing it at the end of 2001, under Belgian Presidency. It is worth having a working perspective on citizens' questions, believes Mr Barnier, as this would give the summit a political dimension.
Finally, Mr Barnier welcomed the Presidency's idea of adding to the future Treaty a protocol on enlargement, defining in advance the position of the candidate countries in terms of votes in the Council, number of Commissioners , judges and seats in the European Parliament, as this would avoid a "solemn and dramatic negotiation".