Treaty Paralysis
May 24, 2007
"There is an emerging consensus but that doesn't mean that consensus is already there," said spokesperson Johannes Laitenberger at a press conference in Brussels on Thursday.
"The work we are undertaking has a positive dynamic but we haven't completed the talks yet," he said, adding that much remained to be done before the next EU summit on June 21-22.
At that summit, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, which holds the EU's rotating presidency until June 30, hopes to reach agreement on a roadmap towards sealing a treaty to replace the EU's failed constitution, scuppered by 'no' votes in Dutch and French referendums in 2005.
Mini treaty
Laitenberger was talking the day after new French President Nicolas Sarkozy visited Brussels to champion his idea of a simplified treaty, which would obviate the need for more unpredictable referendums.
Sarkozy told a press conference in Brussels that the idea of a simplified treaty was "the only possible solution" to the bloc's institutional gridlock.
European Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso, speaking at the same press conference following talks with the French leader, said he saw a consensus emerging in favour of a new, simplified EU treaty.
Institutional reform is deemed vital to make the bloc's workings more efficient, especially in the wake of its enlargement from 15 to 27 member states since 2004.
Difference of opinion
However there are many differences among the member states as to what the treaty should enshrine.
Germany and 17 other countries ratified the original constitution and most of those want the revisions to be as limited as possible.
"There is reason for optimism," Laitenberger said. "The good scenario on which everyone is working is to have a consensus at the European Council (summit)."
In his Brussels comments Sarkozy did not give precise details of his plan but spoke of the need for a more stable EU presidency -- it currently switches from country to country every six months -- and the extension of the qualified majority voting system to areas where member states currently wield a veto.
Germany has insisted on the need to preserve the substance of the original text. A German spokesman said on Thursday that Merkel's position had not changed.