Berlin, 12/01/2001 (Agence Europe) - The determination to "reconquer power" (according to the expression used by EPP President Wilfried Martens) by the parties which, today, are in the opposition in most EU Member States, as well as a critical but finally mitigated judgement on the conclusions of the European Council of Nice, and the exhortation to make the post-Nice stage a success in order to offset this mediocre result were the main themes of the opening speeches of the fourteenth Congress of the European People's Party, on Thursday afternoon in Berlin. This first day of a congress which is to end on Saturday with the vote on a long document on "A Union of Values" and other resolutions (see yesterday's EUROPE, pages 5 and 6), including a document from the EPP Group at the European Parliament (see below), was also marked by a speech delivered by former Chancellor Kohl, who reiterated that there is "no alternative to a policy of unifying Europe". He insisted on the need for "vision". "Let us move on", exclaimed the former CDU President, who criticised the Treaty of Nice, while noting that "we, too, have made mistakes" in the negotiation of the earlier European treaties. Helmut Kohl above all deplored the "idea, which seems to be worming its way" into minds and which would be "fatal" for European integration, of opposition between "large" and "small". He said it is necessary to remain firm to the principle whereby it is "quality" and not "quantity" that counts.
In the opening speech to the Congress, which was attended by several Heads of Government of candidates for EU membership, substantial differences were also obvious between those who placed emphasis on the change in the nature of the EPP, during these successive enlargements, and those who insisted on Christian democrat values. It is a mistake to be nostalgic about the past, said the Spanish Prime Minister José Maria Aznar (who was cited on several occasions as an example to be followed by the president of Forza Italia, Silvio Berlusconi, who, in his first speech at an EPP congress, mainly insisted on the opportunity for "revenge" on a left of which he was highly critical). Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, for his part, exclaimed: "I am not a fashionable man". Spanish national Alejandro Agag, Secretary General of the EPP, placed emphasis on the successes of the EPP over the last two years and mainly on the fact that it is now the largest political force at the European Parliament (Ed.: with the British Conservatives, which are members of the group at the Parliament, but not of the Party), and that it has taken in eleven new parties, some from candidate countries (Mr Agag also said that one of the "most important strategic decisions in our history" was that of welcoming Forza Italia to the EPP).
The Congress was opened by CDU President Angela Merkel, who affirmed that, in Nice, it was "felt" the Socialist governments of the Union do not have a European "vision". She also insisted on the post-Nice stage, which should shed light on the breakdown of powers at the various levels. Edmund Stoiber, CSU President, spoke along the same lines and called for "a new balance in the context of the new democracy in Europe". "If we do not ratify the Treaty of Nice, we shall be missing the opportunity that the prospect of post-Nice is giving us", he said. Subsidiarity as seen by the Minister-President of Bavaria not only concerns Europe and the Member States but also the regions - and one of the difficulties which is already being announced in the post-Nice period has appeared in the contrast between his words and those of Mr Aznar, who stressed (as he had done earlier before the Spanish Congress, during the debate on the Nice Summit) that the discussion on the breakdown of powers will be "in respect of the breakdown of these powers foreseen by the Constitution of each Member State".
The most explicit criticism of the Treaty of Nice came from Wilfried Martens, while the Heads of Government who negotiated the Treaty were less categorical. The former Belgian Prime Minister, like most of the other speakers, welcomed the fact that Nice had confirmed the Union's determination to enlarge, while regretting that the "debate on the final Union borders had not been gone into in more detail". "The European spirit was not present in Nice - far from it", exclaimed Mr Martens, who mainly criticised the results concerning the decision-making process ("what a failure for transparency", he commented) and the "national demands and outbidding", which marked the negotiations. It would seem that the main question was not that of knowing how to take a decision but how to block it", said Mr Martens, who pinned his hopes on the Belgian Presidency, noting that it will present the "Laeken Declaration" in December, which should "launch a new conference of great importance for Europe".
We must elaborate a "fundamental text that some of us are already calling the European Constitution", defining the powers of the Union, of Member States and of the regions, said Mr Martens, who hoped this process could be carried out at "a conference involving the governments, the European Parliament and the national parliaments". In order to float this successfully, "our political forces must regain governmental responsibilities", said Mr Martens, before going on to add: "In 2004, the European Council will designate the President of the Commission (…) It is logical for this President to come from our political family".
As was to be expected, Spanish Prime Minister José Maria Aznar was not as displeased by the results of the European Council of Nice. "After five years of experience of European summits, I know that you never leave entirely satisfied", he noted. Furthermore, the president of the Partido Popular stressed that the "centre is our natural environment", but, in order to hold power, "vast majorities must also be formed". He was quite indulgent towards today's socialism, saying that the Socialist leaders well know that the receipts of the past can no longer be used, but warned against all temptation to resort to this at European level, when it is not done at national level. The treaties are rarely perfect, but one can make "a perfect European policy even with imperfect treaties", declared Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, while recognising that Europe, in Nice, could have done with a serious "boost". It was, however, only nudged along a little. Mr Juncker, who on several occasions cited Konrad Adenauer, insisted on the Christian Democrat values and on the social market economy. Those who drop the term "social" are betraying these values, he exclaimed. Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel felt that Nice was only one episode and that one should now move forward and support the post-Nice process. "We should take this process seriously and not as an alibi. We should demand firm commitments on this from all our governments", he said.
UDF President François Bayrou felt the "key to success" was the "courage needed to become architects and visionaries". In Nice, however, one had the impression that most of the participants were interested "more in the size of their own cabin and the place they would have on deck rather than the boat they should be building together". "Our political family has produced generations of architects", he recalled, welcoming the decision taken that same day by the EPP Political Bureau to consolidate the idea of federalism" (on Saturday, by modifying the statutes, the EPP should tackle this issue). Fine Gael President John Bruton was very critical of those who, in Nice, placed the Commission in a position "on the sidelines" while, in future, the power of the Commission should be strengthened. "We must stop blaming Europe for all that goes wrong", was the Irish Prime Minister's catchphrase.
The European Parliament's EPP Group calls on national parliaments to be more actively involved
in the post-Nice process
The president of the EPP/ED Group at the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Pöttering, presented in Berlin a proposal of resolution that hints at what the European Parliament's position could be on the Nice Summit (see also EUROPE of 10 January, pages 4 and 5). The text affirms above all that it is vitally important for the post-Nice process, which is to prepare the reform to be decided by 2004, to offer clear prospects allowing the failings of Nice to be overcome, and that the evaluation of the Nice Treaty should take into consideration the concrete progress made in this process "before ratification" of the Treaty. All the EPP parties should insist on this during the ratification process in their national parliaments, affirms the resolution, which calls on the EPP/ED group at the European Parliament to invite, twice yearly, the leaders of the groups of the EPP member parties in the national parliaments to joint meetings, in order to strengthen the vote of the representatives elected by the people in the process that should be concluded in 2004.