Brussels, 16/06/2006 (Agence Europe) - On 16 June, EU Heads of State and Government decided to extend the reflection period on the European Constitution with the aim of reaching a final decision on the institutional future of the European Union by the second half of 2008 at the latest. The real preparatory work on a new text will only begin a the end of the first half of 2007 - after the elections in France and the Netherlands - when Germany, which will by then hold the EU Presidency, is due to present a report listing the possible courses of action and a timetable to come to a decision as quickly as possible and by the end of 2008 a the latest to the June 2007 European Council.
“It is on the basis of the report from Germany that future decisions will have to be taken,” said Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel told press on Thursday evening. Could the new treaty come into effect, as has been suggested, along with the new European Parliament and Commission in 2009? “The date 2009 does not feature in the conclusions, but it is indeed in everybody's mind,” said Mr Schüssel, the President of the European Council, who felt that such a simultaneous event was still possible. The Summit conclusions say nothing about the nature of the solution which still has to be found. “The fact remains that there is a consensus that we could not work in the long term with the Treaty of Nice. There is also a consensus that the substance of the European Constitution is good and should be retained,” he said. At the same time, everyone was aware that the opinions of national parliaments and European citizens had to be taken into account, he added. New elements would also probably have to be brought into the current draft text, he said, but the European Council would not be making any announcement on that for the moment.
On the suggestion of José Manuel Barroso and Angela Merkel, the European Council decided that the 25, along with the Presidents of the European Parliament and Commission, would sign a solemn declaration, in Berlin on 25 March 2007, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome. “It is important to check and to see the level of commitment of each of our European leaders to the European project,” Mr Barroso told press, pointing out that this declaration was the Commission's idea. Heads of State and Government “need to move from comments to building concrete acts and results”, he added.
“The time of mourning is over,” said Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi at the opening of the Summit. He hoped for an agreement on a new text in 2008. Explaining that it was not possible to put forward the same text to the peoples who had rejected it, the former President of the European Commission said he thought the Constitution could take a new form with a text that was “more constitutional, on the main principles, less analytical”. “The term Constitution is important for me, but less so for others,” he admitted, regretting that for some the term should no longer be used. Mr Prodi, who wants “to put Italy back at the centre of Community policy”, met the President of the Spanish government on Friday. On the eve of the Summit, he met Jacques Chirac and Angela Merkel.
The German Chancellor thought the twin track approach for the re-launch of European construction was a responsible one, with, on the one hand, the constitutional process which should reach a conclusion over the German and French Presidencies - meaning that not all the pressure would weigh on one Presidency - and on the other, the “Europe of projects” which should respond to the expectations of citizens. Ms Merkel said that the report expected in June 2007 would only prepare the ground for a solution to be found under French Presidency. Questioned on the idea of holding a referendum simultaneously across Europe, she re-affirmed the need for national ratification processes. She replied that she didn't think simply changing the name 'constitution' would solve the situation.
Luxembourg's prime minister, Jean-Claude Juncker, said no head of state, even ones who don't usually attend Summits (referring to Czech Eurosceptic Vaclav Klaus, Ed.) said that the treaty was dead and wouldn't be ratified. He said there would probably be a series of ratifications during the reflection period (believing his Portuguese colleague would move in this direction). He said he hoped there would be enough ratifications before the end of the reflection period to be able to apply Statement 30 annexed to the constitutional treaty. He said the Member States that have ratified the treaty are obviously not planning to submit a new document to their national parliaments. Juncker and Merkel said there had not been any discussion of a 'hard core' at the Summit. Juncker said he didn't want to turn the idea of a hard core into an aim of the European project, saying progress had to be made with all 25 or 27 Member States but if it should arise that a big Member State no longer wants to continue, then the idea of a hard core might be of use.
Since there is no Plan B, a longer reflection on how to reform the institutions will be required following the No vote in France and the Netherlands, said French President Jacques Chirac. He said the reflection would be decisive for everyone but there would be inevitable engines. He said Germany's position would be important and would help get the train up and running, adding that it would most likely be necessary to wait until the French Presidency in the second half of 2008 before concluding. He said the reform of the institutions had broken down but the EU was still moving forwards. Chirac tried to downplay the scale of the situation, saying that he'd always known the EU as moving from one crisis to another. Asked about how to get out of the current crisis, Chirac said that the reason for deciding to extend the reflection period was because people wanted to reflect more, and they wanted to reflect more because they didn't have a crisis solution option to put forward immediately.
'I think there is an obvious need to look at how Europe can operate more effectively… when it is expanding its membership so greatly. But this is something I think we should consider over a period of time - and we have effectively another couple of years to do this,' said the British prime minister, Tony Blair, adding: 'This will also allow us to talk to our own people about what they want out of Europe, and I think what citizens of Europe want is to concentrate on the bread and butter key issues - about the economy, about illegal immigration, about security - that really worry them. He said 'the bloc needed to be seen to be delivering real change to Europe's citizens… and then when we want people's consent to change the rules by which Europe is governed, we'll have a better chance of getting it.' The Spanish prime minister, Jose Luis Zapatero, said Spain still wanted to see the constitutional treaty coming into force, saying that the treaty Spain had ratified was a good treaty. He said the treaty was important for meeting the challenges posed by enlargement. Belgian prime minister Guy Verhofstadt said that the politicians had avoided killing off the treaty but it was not yet known how and with what text they would be able to get out of the crisis.
The Swedish prime minister, Goran Persson, said the solution agreed upon, of allowing more time, was highly constructive. He said it was important not to put too much pressure on the two countries that have voted no. Persson added that one should be patient. Danish prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Denmark backed the current moves, and it would be necessary to wait until France and the Netherlands had clarified their views.
Polish Prime Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz said extension of the reflection period also gave Poland two more years to decide whether to opt for a parliamentary procedure to ratify the Constitution or to hold a referendum. Dutch Prime Minister Jan-Peter Balkenende said the extension of the reflection period was a realistic approach. He said the EU had to meet its citizens' demands. Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot said a new legal tool was required to replace the Nice Treaty, which did not suffice for meeting the needs of enlargement.
According to AFP, the President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, had few kind words on Friday for the views expressed by EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson, who said in an interview with the BBC on Thursday that there was virtually no chance of reviving the European Constitution. Mandelson said that he and the Commission remained highly attached to the principles, values and substance of the Constitution. He said there had been good reasons for wanting a constitutional treaty and those reasons remained, but the rejection of the current draft legal text by the French and Dutch in 2005 meant the current version was condemned.