European Treaty: negotiations start again
(BRUXELLES2 Archives) Sherpas, bilaterals, confessionals, foreign policy… the phosphorus machine sets off again in search of the European Holy Grail.
The reflection phase is over
Nobody says it officially. But everyone thinks about it. The renegotiation of a new European treaty is well and truly underway. The meeting this Friday in Madrid of the 18 countries, which said Yes to the draft Constitution, will mark, paradoxically, the kick-off. "As things stand, I don't think other countries will ratify this text.." considers, lucid, the Spanish Socialist MEP, Joseph Borrell. " The reflection phase is over assures, for her part, the German Chancellor, who is presiding over the European Union this semester.
Germany on the move
Angela Merkel has given her partners until June 2009, the date of the next European elections, to agree on a text… and ratify it. A delay that forces you to speed up the tempo and negotiate behind the scenes. The intense electoral phase which is beginning – in France, in Scotland, in the Netherlands, in Eastern Europe – does not allow this. And no European leader wants to relive the episode of a Convention, bringing together in broad daylight licensed experts and parliamentarians, as for the constitutional project. Nicolas Sarkozy's proposal for a mini-treaty is not convincing either. " Not realistic we judge. Angela Merkel therefore prefers to use a method that has already proven itself: Sherpas.
A haggling of shopkeepers
Men in the shadows, who have the confidence of their Prime Minister, and are good technicians. To them, in confessional », to clear the ground, to identify the dangerous marshes and to define the first convergences. Not easy ! Everyone sharpens their demands: the word “Christian” for the Poles, the clarification of competences, in a federal mode, for the Germans, a social component according to the Luxembourgers joined by Ségolène Royal, etc. As for the United Kingdom, it wants nothing! In short, we are moving towards a haggling of shopkeepers — enrages Dany Cohn-Bendit — God against my agriculture "" If it were up to me, I would take up the essentials of the Constitution replies CDU President of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Pöttering. " But you have to be prepared for compromise, that's the European spirit ". The negotiation on the European institutions being the most difficult - this comes down to defining " who has the power in Europe? ”—, the negotiation could be oriented towards foreign policy, energy or security. More consensual topics. Even if it means writing not just one text but several. So the phosphor machine is off again…
Nicolas Gros Verheyde
article published in Ouest-France, January 2007
