Brussels, 16/07/2001 (Agence Europe) - During the public debate by the General Affairs Council on Monday over the dialogue with citizens, several Ministers for Foreign Affairs insisted on the effort needed to explain and the priority to be given to the content and the values of the Union compared to its institutions. Marked by a rejection of pessimism, this debate also brought out that a number of concerns are linked to the uncertainties of a world that develops increasingly quickly and an enlargement for which the citizens are not prepared.
Opening the discussion, the Council President Louis Michel underlined that the present unease is not directed at the European Union, but that the citizens disaffection with regards to institutions affects all the Member States, as is shown by the low turnout in national elections. We cannot content ourselves with a large scale publicity over the benefits of Europe, he said, when asserting that it is also necessary to answer the concerns of the citizens, who question the legitimacy of the anonymous structures, distant and complex. Feeling that enlargement tends to reinforce the concerns, Mr Michel said that it is necessary to explain to the citizens that a market of 500 million inhabitants provides a much stronger lever to domesticate globalisation. Also, while calling for a honest and open dialogue, a contradictory debate that will allow citizens to take part and to re-appropriate Europe, Mr Michel said that it is necessary to re-establish the primacy of politics and to recall that political figures are elected, though as opposed to certain important actors, but which have neither the same legitimacy nor the monopoly over good conscience.
The Irish Minister, Brian Cowen (who underlined, over the rejection of the Treaty of Nice by his country, that he is not an expert in communications on Europe) felt that people are focusing on the failings because they do not properly know the successes of the Union. We must no longer return, to defend the vision of the EU, to post-war history, but to find a language to talk of the present values and turn towards the future, explained Mr Cowen, for whom it is necessary to find an agenda that is truly relevant for our citizens in their all day life. A truly comprehensive debate at home is necessary and achieving cross-fertilisation between the national debates. Also reaffirming that we do more working together in the world, he also said that it is necessary to re-establish the primacy of politics. Concerning the anti-globalisation movements, Commissioner Chris Patten spoke of a crisis of global governance due both to the difficulties faced by the institutions in answering the current problems and the loss of influence for the nation-States. Mr Patten recalled that the Commission should soon adopt a White Paper on governance and called for a clearer allocation of competences between the European and national levels and felt that it requires greater participation by the national parliaments to improve the democratic control. The Portuguese Minister Jaime Gama was more optimistic than his colleagues, going so far as to underline that the EU enjoys an excellent level of media coverage and that it must continue down this path in order to leave the shadows to enter into the light. We must not broach this debate with the feeling of bad consciences, he said, while explaining that the Union has a place in the world, which we did not know before and by giving credit to the single market, the Euro, the progress of CFSP and ESDP as well as the activity deployed in the sector of employment, the environment, food safety and maritime safety. Also, while inviting his colleagues not to score points against our side, he spoke out against a permanent institutional overhaul and for a debate that broaches concrete issues (and against the segmented national debates). It would be exaggerated to believe that more than 10-% of the citizens are interested in the EU, said the German Secretary of State Christoph Zopel, when explaining that this is the same percentage of people that are interested in national politics. Also raising among the expectations of the citizens: - peace (according to him, it is also with this that one can justify enlargement, rather than for economic reasons which no citizen is prepared to believe); - employment and the growth of revenue; - the possibility of living in security and good health; - and to be left alone by the public authorities. Continuing on a tone that was just as realistic, he felt one should speak of peace in concrete terms. He stressed that "there is no war now, so there is no reason to have frontiers", that it will be easy to understand single currency when one goes to a café and finds there is no longer any need to search in one's pockets for Belgian francs; that one can defend enlargement by tourism (he drew a parallel with the rise in tourism in Majorca after Spain's accession), and the internal market by improved social rights. Mr Zopel concluded by calling for a clear breakdown of powers and the direct election of a European government allowing citizens to determine its political colour (centre right or centre left, he said).
Debates focus on globalisation, citizen information, and are a reminder of the origins of European construction
"We are the ones that give a pessimistic or equivocal message by using Europe too often as a scapegoat for what goes wrong", said the Spanish Minister, Josep Piqué, who urged, like his colleagues Mr Gama and Ms Ferrero-Waldner, for an effort of pedagogy to be made through the television but also through schools. He said our own constitutional systems would not be comprehensible for citizens if they were not included in school manuals. While recognising that there is a problem of communication, Dutch Minister Jozias Van Aartsen did not see how a debate of this kind could improve matters. He went on to explain that citizens expect concrete results. Mr Van Aartsen, however, placed emphasis on the need to strengthen the powers and the democratic control of the European Parliament. He urged for measures in immigration and asylum policy especially, in order to "give concrete substance to the promise made in Tampere". French Minister Pierre Moscovici placed emphasis on the content of the European project rather than institutional reform, and pleaded in favour of a "increasingly active citizens' information policy". Having affirmed that one had to recognise that the EU is out of touch with citizens, British Minister Jack Straw declared that if there had to be a convention before the next IGC it would have to limit itself to proposing options to citizens so that citizens cannot accuse institutions of wanting to tell them what was good for them. Mr. Straw recognised that they had in fact to take account of citizens concerns (he cited employment, notably) and to envangelize by explaining the advantages of the EU, but he does not think that they had to be left in the dark as to the historic origins of the EU, as without peace, the other Union policies (he cited free movement) would not be possible. A sentiment shared by Italian Minister Renato Ruggiero, who explained the current unease by the change in generation, with the young that had not known the war: the fall of the Berlin all and the end of an "obvious Europe"; globalisation that provides the EU with a new mission: "demonstrating that the global society in which we live is governable". And, stating that "the Union must place emphasise on values", he said that "any political system has to give reasonable hope" to citizens.
Luxembourg Minister Lydie Polfer was quite critical of governments, stressing the inconsistency of Member States that place emphasis on informing the citizens in on Council formation and reducing the budget in the other. She also chastised the usual criticisms of bureaucracy, recalling that decisions are taken by the governments and are responsible before their national parliaments. Also calling on her colleagues not to denigrate our own institutions, and on the European Parliament to do more to convince citizens of the importance of its role. The Swedish Minister Anna Lindh hoped that they tackle issues close to the citizens (EU contribution to world peace; employment and social issues; regulation of globalisation). After having underlined that the speech on peace no longer has a grasp on youths for whom peace is normal, as is the opening of borders, the Austrian Minister Benita Ferrero-Waldner called for a "bottom-up" approach to the dialogue with citizens and more information. She also hoped that all the Council debates on legislative dossiers be made public. The Greek Minister Elissavet Papzoi called for work to be done to ensure that the citizens see that the EU is the best answer to the great challenge of globalisation. For the Finnish Minister Erkki Tuomioja, globalisation is marked by a paradox: democracy spreads, while a loss of confidence in the elected representatives is gaining a ground. Also explaining that the EU must, in this context, show that it is capable of leading to a fairer and more humane globalisation. Listening to us is not enough; the citizens also need to see things in black and white, he said, while calling for access to all Council documents. Raising the unease of public opinion in the face of enlargement, (though the most ambitious project of our generation, he said), the Danish Minister Friis Petersen also insisted over the need for a true political dialogue with citizens, more transparency and a consolidation of the institutions.