Posted on 12/14/2003 5:28:03 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
Failure to agree on a new constitution does not herald the beginning of the end for the European Union, but illustrates how hard it will be for an expanded 25-member bloc to be an effective and coherent world force.
If EU leaders cannot agree on how they should do business with each other, what hope do they have of presenting a united and forceful front to the rest of the world?
For several countries, notably France and Germany, the ultimate pay-off from a fully integrated and expanded EU is the creation of another political pole as an alternative to the over-arching power of the US.
That hope is still alive in Paris and Berlin, but after the Brussels summit it seems dead in the water elsewhere, especially in London, Warsaw and Madrid - if indeed it was ever alive.
France's President Jacques Chirac left the Brussels summit talking about forming a pioneer group of nations committed to ever close integration. In case the other leaders did not understand French diplomacy, the German Chancellor, Gerhard Schroeder, Chirac's closest ally, noted that this could lead to the creation of a two-speed Europe.
The threat: get on the integration bus soon if you want to enjoy its full benefits.
Such talk might work for some of the smaller European countries, but is clearly out of sync with realpolitik in Britain, Spain and, most notably, Poland, whose Prime Minister, Leszek Miller, effectively crippled the summit.
These three, as well as the Czech Republic and other soon-to-join EU countries, take as much, if not more, notice of Washington than Brussels.
As the pre-summit deal on the expanded EU defence role showed, France and Germany need Britain as the bridge to the US.
It was up to the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, to ease the US's fears about the EU's expanding military designs conflicting with NATO.
Since before the Iraq war, and for the foreseeable future, neither Chirac nor Schroeder was going to be easily trusted by the US. And neither of the EU presidents, Romano Prodi at the European Commission or Pat Cox at the European Parliament, have the clout.
With the post-summit rhetoric stripped away there are signs that Europe can unite around a set of ideals and voting procedures even if they may not fully please the French and the Germans.
Mr Blair's low-key response to the collapse of talks showed that Britain had gained agreement on the idea that a national veto on tax, energy and foreign policies will in effect be maintained.
Europe the united superpower is a long way off, but the union will remain a fascinating experiment.
By May, when the 10 new countries join, even Poland will be celebrating a historic moment. What voters will be happy about will have nothing to do with voting methods and everything to do with the promise of unrestricted work, trade and travel across the continent. Not to mention a big dollop of EU cash.
But for several existing EU political leaders, most notably Mr Blair, the summit's failure makes it harder to persuade fickle voters of the club's benefits and, eventually, to sign a new constitution.
You may be partially correct.
But, I see it as France's last, desperate attempt to slink itself to relevancy on the world's stage. Germany is just tagging along hoping to snag the most it can in future EU heavy industry contracts.
For France, it's a chance to reclaim it's former glory that Great Britain eclipsed in the Eighteenth Century, for Germany, it's a straight economic play.
Agreed--the Fourth Reich. This is actually more historic, significant, and prophetic than what happened in Iraq, but most will miss this.
The 25 members + 10 new members have to be culled down to 10!!!
Not true. They don't want or need a bridge to the US -- they just want to confront it (see the Syria deal).
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