By Chris Jones - 7th September 2006
The EU’s institutions and policies need to be thoroughly overhauled if Europe is to recover from its current “crisis”, Nicolas Sarkozy has claimed.
Speaking in Brussels, the French interior minister gave some indication of the way his country’s attitude to Europe would change should he replace Jacques Chirac as president following next May’s elections.
“There is a crisis in Europe…our citizens are plagued by doubt and indifference,” he said.
“But Europe should be seen as something to aspire to, not something that holds us back. I want it to inspire enthusiasm in our citizens, not distrust.”
The next few months will be vital for the EU, Sarkozy said, with elections in 11 member states.
“Now more than ever we need to think about how we can reconcile Europe with Europeans,” he said.
“The constitutional treaty in its current form will never enter into force, however sad that might be. The decision of the French people [in last year’s referendum] was clear,” he said.
Cherry-picking
Instead, Sarkozy repeated calls for cherry-picking the best bits of the existing treaty text, including extending the scope of qualified majority voting among member states and giving the European parliament a bigger role.
“This ‘mini-treaty’ could be quickly agreed since the issues have already been debated at length by the Convention,” he said.
“Our aim would be to launch the project under the German EU presidency [which starts in January] and finish it under the French [in the second half of 2008].”
Such a treaty would “give a let out clause to those countries who said no to the constitution without humiliating those who said yes”, he added.
Institutional reform
But he stressed that some issues still needed to be resolved.
“The commission needs to be reformed,” he said. “This is one of the most important, and definitely one of the most difficult, institutional questions to resolve.”
He said that the current system was neither efficient nor fair, primarily because commissioners were nominated by national governments.
“Why don’t we take the bold decision to allow the commission president to choose his or her own commission? After all, this is how national governments are chosen”
A commission president, himself approved by both MEPs and national governments, could choose the best people for each post, “creating a real team” of committed commissioners, he said.
Sarkozy also reiterated calls for an easing of the EU’s rules on decision-making.
“We need to change the rule about unanimity. We cannot impose decisions upon countries if they do not agree; nor can I accept that countries which do not want to go forward should be allowed to hold back others.”
Instead, Sarkozy is suggesting a system based on what he calls “super qualified” majority, where decisions could be taken with the backing of 70-80 per cent of the votes, allowing certain key issues to be resolved.
He gave the example of taxation, where certain countries continue to block attempts to introduce a uniform EU corporation tax.
“Some countries use zero rates to attract business. This ‘fiscal dumping’, which is allowed to continue because of the unanimity rule, is not acceptable within the EU,” he said.
Other ‘blocked’ dossiers, such as working time or European patents, could also be concluded more rapidly under these more flexible proposals.
Sarkozy also backed calls for ‘working parties’ between member states that could push the agenda forward without the need for everyone to agree.
“Why shouldn’t countries such as France, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece get together to discuss plans to control forest fires?”
“Why shouldn’t the Mediterranean countries work together to put the best possible measures in place to tackle illegal immigration?” he added.
Immigration and enlargement
The controversial French minister has been criticised for his increasingly tough stance on immigration, and he used his Brussels speech to criticise recent decisions in Spain and Italy to ‘regularise’ black market workers.
“These countries should have asked for the support of other EU countries before doing this,” he said.
“Otherwise what is the point of the Schengen agreement [which removes internal borders].”
He said that it was no surprise that Italy and Spain were now being inundated by floods of illegal immigrants, although he stressed that he backed their calls for help from other EU countries.
Sarkozy also tackled the issue of Europe’s ‘absorption capacity’ and where its boundaries should be set.
“Europe is not just an idea, it is a shared identity, a shared history and a shared geography,” he said.
“The EU should be open to everyone in the European continent – Switzerland, Norway, the Balkans or Iceland, if they want.”
“Our neighbours elsewhere, in Eurasia or North Africa, should be offered privileged partnerships with the EU, but not membership.”
“Turkey is our friend and our neighbour, it shares many of our security concerns and some of our interests… we must deepen our relationship with Turkey, but not go as far as full membership.”
“There are 25 EU members, not 24. I call once again for membership negotiations with Turkey to be suspended until it has ratified the Ankara protocol and recognised Cyprus.”
Budget and election reform
The French EU presidency in 2008 will be responsible for the review of EU spending, and Sarkozy had some early suggestions for change, including an EU tax.
“The current system, based on national contributions, is illogical, unfair and incomprehensible to European citizens,” he said.
“European expenditure should be covered by European resources, just as local taxes are used to finance local services.”
And the EU electoral system could also be overhauled, he suggested, by the introduction of Europe-wide lists along party lines.
“European elections are always dominated by national issues, there is no European campaigning.”
“Party members from across Europe should be allowed to campaign on the issues – energy, environment, immigration, the economy, defence – that are common to Europe as a whole.”
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