Brussels, 26/03/2004 (Agence Europe) - Shortly before midnight on Thursday, Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern announced that the European Council had instructed the Irish Presidency to resume and complete constitutional negotiations for the European Summit of 17 June at the latest. The Taoiseach said everyone acknowledged the fact that a compromise must be reached and concessions made. He said they all wanted to put the new Constitution in place. He hoped that, if they are unable to complete them all, then at least one agreement on a maximum number of points would be reached by the European elections.
European Commission President Romano Prodi said he was pleased that they were again moving forward. "This is proof that Europe will not stop here", he said, before going on to say: "I hope, as Bertie Ahern has already said, that we shall be able to conclude before the European elections".
Insisting on the strength of the political commitment that he had just witnessed, European Parliament President Pat Cox felt that an agreement on the Constitution is now "highly likely" under Irish Presidency. "The Parliament prefers it to be before the elections", he recalled, saying he was "proud to be Irish" and proud of the example given by his "small country" when it comes to taking the reins of the EU (see below).
Answering questions put to him, the president of the European Council said he had that evening noted the "basis of an agreement", mainly citing double majority for voting in Council. Mr Ahern also stated he was willing, in his capacity as Irish Prime Minister, to compromise on justice and home affairs issues. In response to questions on the working method, he seemed to dismiss further ministerial meetings of the IGC, preferring to speak of continued Presidency consultation and a capital tour early May. He said in answer to a question on the possible convening of an additional summit that he would refuse to come back to a meeting in Brussels with 24 or 25 points still outstanding.
In Spain there will soon be a "new government that will assume its responsibilities" on the Constitution, Spanish Foreign Minister Ana Palacio said, saying that Spain has always been in favour of a solution that respects balance and which "would maintain a polyphonic Europe". Polish Prime Minister Leszek Miller and his Foreign Minister also urged for a compromise to be sought and approved the double majority formula. Reticence was, however, expressed this time by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who said on several occasions that it would be difficult to reach a result by June (see below).
Other Heads of State or Government seem to have difficulties with the timetable. Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker thus felt it would be up to the Irish Presidency to make the right choice because it would be a shame to fail a second time just before elections. The same Jean-Claude Juncker noted that "we agree on a reduced European Commission as of 2014" and that his suggestion of an 18-member Commission was gaining ground. Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller felt, on the other hand, that they should "try to come to an agreement before the elections".
Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt was pleased the IGC had been reactivated and the deadline fixed for 17 June. Belgium is in favour of the Constitution being approved, if possible, before the European elections, Mr Verhofstadt said. He also insisted on an agreement of principle between the Heads of State or Government and on the need to strengthen the issue of justice and home affairs in the Constitution with a view to making it a "key policy" of the enlarged Union. Answering questions on why things have finally started moving since the failure of the Summit last December, the Belgian Prime Minister was unequivocal, saying: "The Spanish elections have changed everything".
Austria is "accommodating" over the question of whether the Constitution should be concluded before or after the European elections, Foreign Minister Benita Ferrero Waldner said. "In principle, it would be good if we could agree before the elections, but the main thing is that we now know there will be a Constitution by 17 June at the latest", she told the press (in this context, she cited Silvio Berlusconi as being opposed to the idea of completing the IGC by the elections). During the discussion on Thursday evening, Austria (and Sweden) insisted that the Irish Presidency should maintain the partial agreements (the "acquis", as Ms Ferrero Waldner called them) that the Italian Presidency had already negotiated before the December failure. She nonetheless admitted that there was no agreement on the matter.
She also underscored a request from several "small or very small countries" for an increase in the number of their seats at the European Parliament.
Confidence returns - Mr Berlusconi and Mr Durao Baroso among most receptive
The German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder told the press that he has "high hopes that we will get the Constitution under the Irish Presidency" on the basis of a text "very close to that of the Convention". He said that acceptance of the principle of double majority was a real success, and welcomed the effort of all those who had ended up recognising the equality of States and citizens. "We have shown that Europe is moving", he said, before praising the Irish Presidency, which has "worked extraordinarily professionally". Mr Schröder declined to answer a question on the scepticism shown by Silvio Berlusconi on the possibility of a solution before the end of the Irish Presidency.
During the press conference, the French President Jacques Chirac stressed the need to "mobilise everything for (...) a strong and united Europe, capable of playing a part in the world and of defending the interest of Europeans". "We can reasonably hope for an agreement, but it is not yet the", said Mr Chirac, who denied rumours that he would prefer the Constitution to be adopted after the elections. "So much the better" if we reach agreement before, he said, adding a little later: "the faster we go, the faster we will have finished for 17 or 18 June".
Like Mr Chirac, the Swedish Prime Minister, Göran Persson, told journalists that there was still work to be done, and hoped that the Irish Presidency had accurately read the current atmosphere. When asked about the best time to adopt this new Constitution, he said the sooner the better. Like the German Chancellor, Mr Persson said that the Italian Presidency should not be criticised, as, despite the failure of December's Summit, it had got the results on which the Irish Presidency can now build.
Although Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, told the press of his satisfaction that the meeting of the European Council of 17 June after the European elections had been retained as the cut-off point, he added: "there are still many differences of opinion, and I have wished the Irish Presidency the best of luck". The day before, he said that it would be very easy to obtain an agreement. His Foreign Minister, Franco Frattini, even said that the solutions proposed were second-rate formulae that Italy would not accept.
"Nice is the best position we have ever had. My responsibility was to get it and keep it", said Spanish Prime Minister José Maria Aznar, taking part in the European Council for the last time. When asked about the importance of personal relationships in the context of European Summits, Mr Aznar replied: "personal relationships are important in politics as they are in life. But in politics, national interests take priority. Blair, as well as being a great friend, is also one of the most worthwhile leaders in Europe".
Whilst declaring himself highly confident in the work of the Irish Presidency, the Portuguese Prime Minister Joao Durao Baroso said that the Heads of Government took a "big risk" by setting a cut-off date.
When asked about the name of the future Constitutional Treaty, which would have been baptised the "Treaty of Rome", the President of the Council, Bertie Ahern, replied: "call it what you wish; you could even name it after President Prodi, as far as I'm concerned".
Pat Cox: Parliament would prefer "Constitutional Treaty Day" to be 9 May
During his press conference on Friday (see also further on), President Cox said that Thursday evening's discussions in Brussels represented a real breakthrough. The deadlock has been broken, he said; Furthermore, the fact that a commitment has been made to conclude no later than 17 June "doesn't rule out delivering earlier", he noted, adding: I clearly said that as 1 May is enlargement day, the European Parliament feels that the ideal solution would be for "9 May to be Constitutional Treaty Day".
On Thursday evening we did not talk details, and therefore I did not raise the issue of the budgetary powers of the European Parliament, said Pat Cox in answer to a question. However, he added, I told them they must not "do business over our heads", because "we are here as players". When asked about the intergovernmental nature of the fight against terrorism, Mr Cox acknowledged that Community competencies are still not quite developed in this field, but he hoped that the future Constitution would provide for an adequate role for the Union in the fight against cross-border crime and terrorism. It will be a good thing for Gijs de Vries to "drill" into the behaviour of the Member States to see whether they are applying the measures decided upon at Community level, but it would be so much the better is we had a "legal basis" allowing us to act at this level, with full democratic control, said the President of the European Parliament.