Brussels, 20/04/2004 (Agence Europe) - The Friends of Europe, chaired by Etienne Davignon, have laid out the ideas of a number of European personalities on the best way to break the deadlock on the European Constitution, in a report published in March, entitled Salvaging the Wreckage of Europe's Constitution- Political Options for 2004 (in the meantime, with the Spanish elections, the horizon has become clearer: Ed). "There is more than one way of getting back on track", and the suggestions of the trustees of Friends of Europe "vary widely because they analyse the situation in different ways", said Keith Richardson and Robert Cox in the introduction, who spoke to various authors and collated their answers coherently (as indicated by Giles Merritt, Secretary General of Friends of Europe). Those they spoke to were: Giuliano Amato, former Italian Prime Minister and Vice-President of the European Convention; Enrique Baron, President of the Socialist group in the European Parliament (of which he is a former President); Michel Barnier, former European Commissioner and new French Foreign Minister; Carl Bildt, former Swedish Prime Minister and former Special Representative of the UN Secretary General to the Balkans; Elmar Brok, President of the EP's Committee on Foreign Affairs; Sir Michael Butler, member of Britain in Europe and former British permanent representative to the EC; Jean Durieux of the Lamy cabinet and former chef de cabinet of the President of the Thorn Commission; Uffe Ellemann-Jensen, former Danish Foreign Minister; Horst Günter Krenzler, former Director General for external relations at the Commission; Eberhard Rhein, the Commission's former director for Mediterranean policy and former chef de cabinet to Commissioner Haferkamp; Philippe de Schoutheete, former Belgian permanent representative to the EU; Eduardo Serra¸ former Spanish defence Minister and President of the Real Instituto Elcano de Estudios internacionales y Estratégicos.
The main conclusions of these shared reflections are that: - the desirable outcome of the crisis over the Constitutions would be "a Treaty on the model Convention plus", and "restricted use of Pioneer Groups, where the advantages were clear and defendable before public opinion, and executed within the framework of the Treaty"; the only alternative would be "a weak Treaty, or none at all", a "cluster of Pioneer Groups operating outside the Treaty", and "a veto on all future enlargement".
The questions put to the respondents were: 1) "For how long and how well can we muddle through without a Constitutional Treaty?" 2) "What new multi-speed arrangements can be envisaged?" 3) "What is the outlook for budgetary policy?" 4) "What are the strategic implications of the constitutional impasse?" 5) "Will the need for survival tactics eclipse the drive for EU reform?". (Information, in Brussels. Tel: +32 2 737 9145. Fax: 738 7597. E-mail: info@friendsofeurope.org. Website: http://www.friendsofeurope.org ).