Brussels, 06/11/2001 (Agence Europe) - At a breakfast event organised on 5 November by the European Policy Centre (a think tank headed by Stanley Crossick), the United Kingdom's Permanent Representative to the EU, Nigel Sheinwald, said that he was expecting the Laeken European Council to make progress in terms of Europe's position in the world and what the EU had to do "for its own security, prosperity and political future" given that the situation had fundamentally changed since 11 September. Asked about the Blair-Chirac-Schröder summit in Ghent and the extended mini-summit in London on 4 November, Nigel Sheinwald stressed that in order to deal with the new situation, a "strong European agenda" would be required, along with "contributions from the most concerned Member States". He explained that "one does not diminish the other" and "it would be wise to accept that some things can be discussed in smaller groups".
In terms of Europe's role on the world stage, Mr Sheinwald said that he was expecting the following from Laeken:
- in terms of the war on terrorism: for the EU to continue working on concrete issues with the United States and to "show by Laeken" that it is able to make tangible progress on vital issues like the European Arrest Warrant, the common definition of terrorism and the freezing of terrorists' assets. In response to a question, the British Permanent Representative said he was confident that the JHA Council in December would be able to reach agreement on these issues, stressing that "what the UK wants is to eliminate completely dual criminality". On the political level, he argued that the EU had to demonstrate it was capable of being "a facilitator for dialogue" in the region and on the humanitarian front, it had to ensure it had the necessary budget resources, adding in this connection that he hoped that the next EU budget would reflect the increased importance of central Asia and Asia as a whole.
- in terms of enlargement: for the EU to strictly abide by the roadmap it has been following in the accession negotiations. As far as the UK is concerned, "we don't need to name names for a first wave"; and depending on how the negotiations went, there could be a "large group" of up to ten candidate countries, explained Mr Sheinwald.
- in terms of European defence: for the EU to continue towards the "Headline Goal" even though the 20 November conference on its defence capacity was bound to reveal certain "shortfalls". In terms of ESDP, Laeken would be "an important step, a part of a process" and the European Council's Declaration should open the way "towards operation" but at this stage, noted Mr Sheinwald, it is probably not going to be possible to talk about a truly operational ESDP. Asked about the Turkey problem (Turkey is blocking an agreement on the provision of NATO logistics for the EU's military operations in the future), he said that London was still trying to find a solution in co-operation with the United States.
In terms of the future of Europe, Mr Sheinwald returned to the crucial issue of the EU's internal security two years after the Tampere Summit. He said that what was needed at Laeken was a "frank assessment" of the situation where heads of state had to "say clearly what they expect". He mentioned the Laeken Declaration on the future of Europe, saying a balance had to be struck between the first analytical part (which London stresses should highlight policies, institutions and communication between the first two and citizens); the second part on democratic legitimacy, where a "black and white assessment" should be avoided since governments were unlikely to accept being told that they lacked democratic legitimacy; and the third part on the debate to be organised at European level, where Mr Sheinwald commented that the future Convention would be a true innovation. He hoped it would have a strong President; propose "options"; and a "decent" gap be left for governments to be able to consult their parliaments on the position to be taken in the IGC proper. We know that the IGC "will be broad", acknowledged Mr Sheinwald, adding that he did not see "Laeken as another Nice" and was not expecting a confrontational "High Noon" atmosphere (the title of a Fred Zimmermann western of 1952, Ed).
Asked about whether the President of the European Commission should be chosen in function of the European elections, Mr Sheinwald (who saw the Commission becoming stronger, not weaker in an enlarged Europe) said that if the President of the Commission were identified with a political party, he or she would find it more difficult to actually do the job.