Euro summit in Brussels: deblocking the crisis?

[KinKyJ]

So the European Constitution is dead and burried. Since the Dutch and the French blew up the project by referendum in 2005, the European reforms have been in the fridge. Up until now...

Under pressure of Angela Merkel a new text is being discussed. It's not a "constitution" anymore, but a "treaty" where all European symbols have been taken out from. In reality it's just more or less the same text as the constitution, but even more technical. Same bullshit, different cover in other words.

But still some countries think it's more important to keep boosting their macho ego rather than to cooperate in a united Europe. Blair for instance has a number of items on which he won't compromise, a EU minister of foreign affairs is one of them.

It's sad to see that the current generation of politicians are a bunch of asswipes. Take the president of Poland for example. His main problem is the EU voting system. "If Germany had not attacked us during WWII, our population would be at 66 million by now, hence we demand that our vote weighs accordingly." I don't know whether to cry or to laugh my ass off when I hear shit like that...

I guess we're going have to wait for a new generation of European leaders to rise in the lines of Mitterand, Kohl, Jacques Delors, ...

[rubyraks]

Re: Euro summit in Brussels: deblocking the crisis?

Frankly the constitution died, because of the wave of rapid expansion that the EU had taken on over the last decade. Trying to integrate so many poor eastern European nations into the EU at a time when the western nations were and are still struggling to integrate themselves was an impossible task and the current members looked for any reason to back out of it. Oh and a possible Turkey entry didn't help too much in the shadow of 9-11 and the western european nations struggle with their own islamic minorities.

The western nations are going to have to better deal with integration within their own countries before they start looking for stronger connections outside.

[KinKyJ]

Re: Euro summit in Brussels: deblocking the crisis?

True, we went from 12 to 27 member states in a jiffy. But the reason that the referenda backfired was that the Dutch and the French assraped their governments for internal political reasons. The propaganda against the Turkish membership didn't do any good either.

Tbh, I don't understand the logics behind allowing poor countries like Romania and Bulgaria to hook up and then hitting the breaks on a region which needs EU regulations the most in order to root out ethnic tensions (Balkans).

I'm even suspecting the Euro sceptics of having played the expansion card in order to slow down the integration dramatically...

[rubyraks]

Re: Euro summit in Brussels: deblocking the crisis?

But the Dutch and French internal issues had very much to do with integration of their muslim minorities and when you combine that with expansion into the balkans and possibly turkey with their muslim populations, you have considerable pause for concern.

Also, the French and Dutch are not the only European countries having problems with muslim integration, they're just the ones that hit the top of the news.

Over the course of the last 5-10 years, it appeared that the rapid growth of the EU was more an economic and strategic move by the political elite and less an initiative by their populations.

[KinKyJ]

Re: Euro summit in Brussels: deblocking the crisis?

Actually, the muslim integration was thrown in to sabotage the referanda. The constitution was all about the organisation or the institutions, not about the expansion.

[rubyraks]

Re: Euro summit in Brussels: deblocking the crisis?

I hear you on that issue, but when the political establishment are the ones pushing the expansion, how else does a population that has no vote other than the constitutional vote express it's displeasure with how the EU is shaping itself?

[KinKyJ]

Re: Euro summit in Brussels: deblocking the crisis?

^^^ see why I said

I'm even suspecting the Euro sceptics of having played the expansion card in order to slow down the integration dramatically...

Anyways...

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) -- European Union leaders agreed early Saturday -- after two long days of tough negotiations -- on guidelines for drafting a new EU treaty to replace the bloc's aborted constitution.
All 27 leaders -- including Poland, which had staged fierce opposition to the proposed treaty -- agreed on a "very precise mandate" to draft a streamlined treaty that will guide and govern the expanded EU, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said.


German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who chaired the marathon talks, said the deal "represents a significant step forward for the European Union."


Sarkozy joined Merkel in calling the agreement "very good news for Europe."


And Polish President Lech Kaczynski said he, too, was pleased with the outcome.


"I am very happy ... we did not have to swallow any bitter pills," he said. "The position of Poland is definitely stronger under this system."


Merkel had made it a priority of her country's six-month EU presidency to come up with a viable plan for a treaty to replace the now-defunct EU charter that Dutch and French voters rejected two years ago.


She sought to salvage key parts of the stalled constitution necessary to streamline EU decision making, including overhauling the unwieldy EU voting system and giving the EU more power in policing.


Merkel said Saturday that she was happy leaders were able to keep key parts of the previous charter alive, despite the often deep and acrimonious divisions that tested the bloc's unity.


"This shows that Europe came together at the end," she said.
Poland had come to the summit vehemently opposed to changing the voting system, saying the new formula would diminish Warsaw's clout and threatening to use its veto if the final draft treaty does not heed its demands.


Britain issued its "red lines" -- insisting that any treaty must not resemble the failed constitution, and demanding that it retain certain rights on issues of policing, justice and internal affairs.


It was clear at the opening of the summit Thursday that agreement on the roadmap was not going to come easy.


Merkel spent Friday morning meeting with some leaders one-on-one. She and other leaders huddled behind closed doors with Kaczynski, offering Poland various compromise proposals on the voting system.
As the talks wore on, Merkel sought to put pressure on Poland to sign onto her proposal by saying Germany would move forward with negotiations on the roadmap -- even without Poland's blessing.
Warsaw finally agreed to a French-German suggestion late Friday night, according to Sarkozy's spokesman.


As the discussions and compromises dragged into Saturday, other nations came forth with their own lists of complaints. Leaders hunkered down and went through the mandate, eventually coming to an agreement shortly before 5 a.m. (0300GMT).


"It went on for a long time but we achieved what we wanted," Merkel said at a briefing to announce the agreement.


She said the drafting of the treaty will begin in coming months, with ratification by the end of 2007. She said the goal is to have the rulebook in place by 2009.


"What this means for us is that we are moving out of stoppage," she said. "We managed to get all 27 states on board in the end."
British Prime Minister Tony Blair said the leaders complete the toughest part of the process.


"I don't think there is anything that can derail the process now," he said. "The rest is drafting."


He said all of Britain's "red lines" had been met.


"The most important thing here is that the constitutional treaty was put to one side. This deal gives us a chance to move on," he said.
Sarkozy said it was a key achievement to negotiate a compromise with Poland.


"After all, we didn't want to leave the biggest country in eastern Europe behind," he said. "We didn't move ahead with 26, but with 27."

So they've adopted more or less the same text minus the symbols that refer to a federation and everybody's happy. Funny how that goes in politics.

The Polish president is a first class populist douchebag imo. Yes, his position maybe stronger now, but the only thing he got was a 5 yr delay for the less favorable voting system within the EU to become applicable for Poland too. Pretty poor loot after the drama on Friday.

I wonder what that President of Europe is going to do in reality btw...