Which EU

The Times of Malta

Which EU`

If you are confused in understanding the EU which Malta would eventually be offered to join you need not despair. The shape of the EU which will be in a position to take on new members has still to be decided.

The ink was hardly dry on the Feira summit documents that the Fronco - German axis continued with its pioneering of the grand Europe dream which in their view can only be built by nation states rather than by an unelected EU Commission.

So whilst the Commission is hard put to bring member states to an agreement on conclusion of the IGC to help smoothen the decision making process of an enlarged community, President Chirac has again echoed the thoughts expressed one month earlier by German foreign minister Fischer about the need to push ahead with a multi-level Europe.

In the Nice Summit of next December the Council will at best decide, if agreement can be reached , that is, on the composition of the 20 strong Commission meaning that some countries will permanently or temporarilty be without a commissioner. It will decide on the quasi total elimination of the consensus voting and will re-weight the voting strength of the Council to give weight to the size of the population represented in each country.

It will also decide on canonising the right of certain country to go for closer co-operation among` them without` being subjected to the veto of other countries who do not like the creation of a multi-speed EU.

But even if, and it is a big if, all this could be agreed at the Nice Summit the message coming out from the Franco-German axis is that it still does not provide sufficient stability for an enlarged community of near 30 members. In President Chirac`s words enlargement should not be undertaken in such a rush that it leads to the anravelling of the European project. Reform of the institutions of Europe should ensure that there is no dilution of what has been accomplished.

So Chirac endorses the German call for a further Iner-Governmental Conference in 2004. Chirac even goes beyond that. Why wait till 2004` Why not form a pioneer group (included Germany and France in the front row, of course) to establish a form of loose-co-operation, establish a `light` secretariat and propose a constitution for the EU.

One can hardly think of a happening which could have undermined more the Commission`s authority right at the time as it is struggling without much success to square the circle of rapid enlargement with deeper harmonisation among members. Also right on the eve of the French presidency which clearly Chriac intend to make his own presidency keeping an eye of the approaching presidential elections in France.

Much to the Britsish dislike, the Franco- German axis seems bent, as paymasters of the EU, to reform it their own way. The creation of a multi level Europe does not necessarily simply mean an inner and an outer group. Rapid enlargement can only happen if there is flexibility permitting countries to integrate with others in full respect of their nationhood and with due regard to their particular characterics which in the course of time may converge sufficiently to create the grand European dream.

Without such flexibility the whole EU model would just crumble. The fact that Germany and France have decided to side-step the institutions and build their version of Europe on the basis of the nation state represents the fleshing up of the variable geometry concept for a successful enlargement within which Malta is more likely to come to terms with membership.

Labour`s `No/Not now/No but` approach to EU memebrship could in the end be rewarded by an EU flexible enough to accommodate Labour`s demands for gradual economic integration but excluding poltical absorption an envisaged in the current EU model.