By Bruno Waterfield - 5th September 2005
The British EU presidency should focus on Turkey, world trade and Iran, Tony Blair’s former EU adviser Sir Stephen Wall has told EUpolitix.com.
The autumn is set to see interesting times for Europe as a whole and for Britain in particular as Blair’s six month stint at the EU presidency helm comes into play after the summer break.
The UK presidency’s opening days were dominated by French and Dutch referendum rejections, the demise of the European constitution and a bitter fight over EU spending for 2007 to 2013.
Perhaps counter-intuitively, Wall suggests that these headline grabbing, big picture issues are not what Blair should be focused on.
“I think most important things for him to do are actually the things which are on external agenda,” he told this website.
“The conclusion of the WTO negotiations hopefully by the end of the year, the Iran negotiations… The Turkish negotiations and particular issue of China at the moment.”
“Although in reality a lot of time is going to be taken up by the budget negotiations, it is not actually critical in my view if the British presidency does not solve it.”
“As for the longer-term future of the EU, it is right we should have the debate, but it is not going to be settled.”
The areas identified by Wall as key priorities for the British EU presidency are all issues where the European method are at concrete stake – unlike, perhaps, more abstract and less pressing issues such as the future of Europe’s social model.
Europe’s textile crisis has raised the spectre of an unravelling EU trade policy amid conflicting producer and consumer interests held by different member states.
Iran is a key test of the EU’s multi-lateral, negotiated approach, especially after European leaders persuaded the US to tag along too.
Turkey too is a concrete test of Europe’s standing commitment to look outwards – let alone a trial of good faith in agreements reached by EU leaders with outside countries.
“I think a lot of what is on the plate of the British presidency is actually proving, as so often, to be the external agenda.”
“I think that the way that the European Commission now handles the dispute with China over textiles in terms of the perception of whether the EU can operate is going to be very important.”
“I think that the whole of the ongoing negotiation with Iran is absolutely critical, not just to security in that region but also to the EU-US relationship.”
“This is a vital area where the EU has taken a lead and the Americans have sometimes reluctantly but nonetheless supported what we are doing.”
“And then I think that also a huge challenge for the EU presidency is going to be seeing whether they can launch the accession negotiations with Turkey on the October 3.”
“As you know that is proving difficult but I think that the repercussions of not doing so would be pretty severe.”
Until departing Downing Street as Blair’s principal adviser on the EU last June, Wall spent almost ten years working at the heart of Britain’s sometimes fractious relationship with Europe.
Before Blair he advised the former PM John Major and a series of UK foreign ministers.
In his Downing Street role as the UK’s EU mandarin and as Britain’s ambassador to Brussels for five years, Wall saw action at the frontline of negotiating a failed European constitution, the Nice and Amsterdam Treaties.
Now he is back, but working on the other side of the tracks as chairman of public affairs for Brussels consultancy Hill & Knowlton.
Wall does not hold out much hope that the British EU presidency can help to turnaround UK euroscepticism.
“I think what will happen is that there will be the dilemma that British politicians are always in, which is, do you present it as a kind of British success, almost in terms of Britain having scored a point or two in Brussels, or do you present it as a success for the EU as a whole?”
“But we very rarely in Britain, I mean in government, give any credit to any other institutions, we very rarely give any credit to the commission.”
“We can’t do that and then be surprised when people turn around and say they either don’t know anything about the commission or they don’t like it. So I think ministers will be torn frankly.”
Wall also suggests that as the question of the political succession to Blair, and the prominence of UK finance minister Gordon Brown in the running, could be a barrier to explaining the EU to British citizens.
“I don’t think it’s been helped by the fact that Gordon Brown has played the euro sceptic card, there’s no doubt about it. I think that one of the effects of that has been that ministers, going out to plead the European case, have looked over their shoulders and thought ‘do I displease Tony Blair or do I displease Gordon Brown’?”
“The best way of displeasing neither is to do nothing. Obviously, as a possible hand over comes closer, there is a risk of that there is more of that.”
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