Variations on "new" notions. Valéry Giscard d'Estaing's address to Washington (see our bulletin of 14 February p 6) goes way beyond the kind of exposé designed to demonstrate to the US the meaning, objectives and function of the Convention. This pedagogical aspect is not forgotten and is certainly useful, as the majority of Americans are not even aware of the existence of the Convention (how can we criticise them for it, given the information coming out of Europe itself?) Even Valéry Giscard d'Estaing has seized the occasion to address a message to his listeners in the "Henry Kissinger Lecture" on what should be the attitude of the USA with regard to European construction. He did this by basing himself on the former and illustrious positions taken by the USA and President Kennedy, who considered that a united and strong Europe was not a rival but a partner. We are aware that the support of the USA or such a Europe has recently experienced (how can one put it?) a few changes and that the support from Washington now appears to be orientated towards a weak and divided Europe, with a certain disdain for the "old Europe" and a preference for a "new Europe", aligned on US thinking.
This dialectic was probably in Valéry Giscard d'Estaing's mind when he concluded his speech, pointing out that President Kennedy was speaking 40 years ago of a mutually beneficial partnership between (Kennedy's actual words) "the new Union emerging in Europe and the old American Union". VGE asked , "What is old? And what is new? But let us not resort to semantics, and even less, to polemics; let the dialogue be one of substance, with each side listening t, and neither lecturing, the other, let us be true to Kennedy's vision. I believe that he would have wished for the success of the current European Convention. I hope today's America does too".
An interesting initiative. Ms Reding's initiative for an "education, training, youth, culture and sports" reference in the future Constitutional treaty could help to resolve a thorny problem. For the specific aspects in the five sectors, I refer readers to our bulletin of 14 February p 17. I simply want to stress that the ideas of Ms Reding can help reconcile relations between the EU and third countries, which are affected by an apparently contradictory demand: on one hand, the overall trade policy of the EU has to be in the "exclusive competencies" of the Union to put an end to the distinction between the different aspects of this policy; and on the other hand, the autonomy of Member States in the areas of culture and education (as well as health) should be safeguarded. I had thought, in this section on 14 February, that a solution had to be found that would clarify the cooperation between third countries and wee whether they had any influence on internal policies, which could be part of "trade policy" and therefore the decisions by majority qualified voting. Mr Reding is proposing to clarify in the Constitution that the EU and Member States have to stress cooperation with third countries and international organisation in the areas that have been mentioned but in explaining that "the external aspect of internal policy should not be confused with external Union policy". It will therefore be possible to apply the rules for trade policy to aspects relating to cooperation with third countries that do not have a body governing internal policy, whereas the "external aspect of internal policy" would be resolved by the rules of this latter policy: subsidiarity, respect for cultural diversity of countries and regions, unanimity etc.
Amendments rain down. As expected, Convention Members have flooded the Presidium with a large number of amendments to the drafts for the 16 initial Constitution Articles and it is impossible to follow them in all their detail. We are able to observe a movement in the opposite direction. Convention members with Socialist leanings are requesting that the list of Union objectives are completed and that notions such as social market economy are inserted, as well as the promotion of services of general interest, high level social protection the fight against poverty and social exclusion etc. But at the same time on the opposite side, certain observers affirm that the draft Presidium Articles are going in a State controlled direction. I will quote an example of this tendency in the Article published in the main economic daily by MEP Parliament , Renato Brunetta (who is not a Member of the Convention). According to Mr Brunetta, the current drafts are "dangerous, socialist of the old school, state interventionist and with a look to the lowest common denominator of a backward red green ecologism". This is a description that has really astonished VGE himself, even more so given that he is accused of thus wanting to "substantially modify the European economic and social model".
Mr Lamassoure has in turn trawled through the different symbols. Three of them that he has retained, coincide with those of Ms Pervanche Berès and Mr Olivier Duhamel (the flag, the anthem and the national holiday of 9 May), but he added the three capitals (Brussels, Strasbourg and Luxembourg) and the Euro.
(F.R.)