IRELAND is for the sixth time in charge of the Presidency of the European Union for this six-monthly period. The priorities of the Presidency, which were formally presented to the European Parliament last week by Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, are indeed ambitious. However, the ultimate test for the Irish Presidency will be when it is faced with the issue of the European Constitution. The Irish Presidency is called upon to succeed where the Italian Presidency failed: to bridge the differences of the 25 member states on the main controversial issues of the European Constitution. That is to say the adoption of qualified majority (50 per cent of the member-states and 60 per cent of the populations), the review of the Commissioners’ College and the Union’s finances.
Spain, dubbed back in December at the European Parliament as the black sheep of the Intergovernmental Conference, seems to be ready to reach a compromise. Poland however, insists on a hard stance for reasons of national prestige. Britain, having kept a distance already from hard bargaining does not seem to want to bear the responsibility of a new failure. The European Parliament has by great majority expressed its will for a compromise to be found and for the Constitution to be finalised. Pressures applied at the European level are swinging the tide.
The tendency now is for a Constitution as soon as possible.
There is a school of thought that believes in a compromise after the European elections and a school of thought that insists in the position that a compromise can and ought to be reached by May. If the first prevails, it is possible that the climate after the European elections will change and become more negative. The nationalistic feelings and the leadership egos will return and will thrive. The new European Parliament will reverberate, at least during the first few months, to the post-election echoes. This means that the Union will still be operating under the shadow of the electoral competition.
Everyone who truly believes in European integration aims for the finalisation of the Constitution by May. The European Council of March may be noted as a historic event where such a development could be achieved. The Irish Presidency must work hard and almost exclusively, during the coming weeks with the aim to achieve consensus and compromise for the issue of the European Constitution.
It is not crucial for the European Union to show progress in the other chapters of the ambitious plan of action of the Irish Presidency. If, however, the European Constitution is not finalised by May and the efforts for compromise are postponed, this postponement may lead to a cancellation. In such a case European integration will move irreparably backwards.
The Irish Presidency with its experience, its diplomatic dexterity and its prestige can succeed. The sixth Irish Presidency of the European Union has all the potential to change the course of Europe’s history. If it achieves in March a compromise of the 25 member states of the European Union, it will be making history.
The historical challenge is of course pan-European but at this stage it is mainly Irish.
Panayiotis Demetriou is a DISY deputy and an Observer at the European Parliament
