Brussels, 29/05/2007 (Agence Europe) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi now see eye to eye on the “common goals” to be reached at the European Council in June regarding the future EU Treaty - a treaty that even Mr Prodi (a fervent defender of the constitutional treaty) no longer has any qualms about calling a “simplified treaty”. “We shall share common goals at this summit when it comes to recognising the legal personality of the Union, unification of the three pillar rules, the question of the (permanent) presidency and the (European) foreign minister”, Mr Prodi told the press after his meeting with Mr Sarkozy on Monday in Paris. “We hope to have a European Union that is not paralysed by the right of veto. We do not want to be subject to voting unanimity”, he added. Nicolas Sarkozy confirmed that there is consensus on these points: “Italy is keen on a permanent Council presidency - as is France. It wants a European foreign minister - as does France. It wants to develop so-called majority rules to break the deadlock on a number of subjects, for example, on the fact that he who does not want to more forward must not prevent the others from doing so - and France agrees with this. And, on the subject of the EU's legal personality, there is still much to be said but we understand each other”.
In the meantime, on Monday, Poland restated its opposition to the “double majority” foreseen in the constitutional treaty for qualified majority voting at the Council of Ministers. “We would like all citizens to have the same influence on European decisions. The current system (set out in the constitutional treaty) does not meet this objective”, Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski told the press. He also expressed reservation about the permanent EU presidency. “The situation in which the EU has several leaders must be maintained”, he said.
On Monday, during a joint meeting in Berlin with Angela Merkel, the heads of government of Latvia, Estonia and Austria expressed their support for the efforts made by the German Presidency to reach an agreement on the key elements of the future treaty during the European Council in June.
According to the results of a survey published on Monday, a majority of Dutch (65%) hope a referendum will be organised on the new future treaty of the EU; and 57% approve the remarks made last week before the European Parliament by their prime minister, Jan Peter Balkenende, who said the role played by national parliaments in developing European legislation must be strengthened (see EUROPE 9421). (hb)