“Hard bargaining” ahead over EU Constitution says Straw
The European Constitution dominated the agenda at the meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels yesterday. The two day gathering is hoping to find a broad consensus ahead of the deadline for penning the final draft of the controversial treaty at the European Council summit on June 18th.
In the past year opposition to the treaty has become a rallying point for the Conservative Party who claim that it will erode Britain’s sovereignty and pave the way for a federalised Europe. Michael Howard recently argued that the constitution would lead to “greater centralisation, more regulation and less flexibility.” within the community. However their attempts to make this a voting issue at the forthcoming European elections (June 10th) seem to have been hampered by Tony Blair’s recent pledge to hold a domestic referendum on whether Britain should sign up for the treaty.
The treaty’s proponents argue that far from restricting a nation’s sovereignty, the constitution will in fact clarify the limits of the EU’s powers, and is essential to unsure the smooth functioning of the EU following the accession of ten new countries on May 1st.
Though the President of the European Parliament, Pat Cox, said there was still an “appetite and determination” to find a settlement by June 18th, the Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, said the mid June deadline would be tough to meet, saying: “I will make no promises. We live in hope,” he said. “I dare say there will be a couple days of hard bargaining ahead. Nothing is decided until everything is decided.”
Yesterday’s meeting also revealed different positions about the proposed charter of fundamental rights. Mr Straw told ministers the charter was a drawing together of extant civil rights in Europe and consequently was not legally binding but Germany’s Joschka Fischer, flanked by French counterpart Michel Barnier, took the contrary view. The pair accused Britain of deploying “salami tactics” – extracting further concessions line by line to assure the best deal for Britain ahead of the domestic referendum.
Consequently, Jack Straw is to demand “greater legal clarity” on the issue before the charter is included in the EU Constitution. He is also expected to reiterate today Britain’s defence of its “red line” issues – veto rights on taxation, police, security, defence and budget issues.
Speaking at the weekend the Leader of the House, Peter Hain, who was Britain’s representative on the council responsible for drawing up the treaty, emphasised that he believed the treaty was about modernisation and reform. He told ITN that: ‘Over three quarters of the new draft treaty are taken from existing treaties. I always said it was a reforming and modernising approach, and a new treaty to cope with 10 new countries and maybe more coming into the European Union.
‘A Europe of 25 with structures designed for six, you’ve got to reform it.’ he claimed.
