Britain and Poland unite in move to block EU constitution reforms

[papau]

http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/story.jsp?story=468909

Britain and Poland unite in move to block EU constitution reforms
By Stephen Castle in Naples
01 December 2003
Britain and Poland tried to block a Franco-German plan to simplify the EU's complex voting rules at the weekend as their new diplomatic alliance swung into top gear.
The move came as European foreign ministers edged towards a deal on plans to reform the European Commission at a meeting about the proposed new EU constitution.
The gathering in Naples highlighted the risk of a collapse of negotiations when EU leaders meet in Brussels in less than two weeks to finalise the constitution.
Britain's Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, took his counterparts by surprise earlier this month when he pledged, in the Polish media, to support Warsaw. British officials, who wanted a counter-balance to Franco-German influence, said they agreed with Warsaw on almost all issues.
The biggest issue that might block negotiations on the constitution is power within the law-making Council of Ministers and the sharing of votes among national governments.<snip>
However, Germany and France are pressing for the new "double majority" system under which voting weights would be scrapped and decisions would need the support of 50 per cent of member states representing 60 per cent of the EU's population. <snip>

[Paschall]

1. Failure to amend the voting system will seriously hinder the Union

It seems US allies are once again working together to thwart a more effective EU.

One wonders why these issues were not finalized at the Constitutional Convention. Where were the British and Polish delegates then?

[papau]

2. Bush/USA is getting the vote it wants in return for new US bases.

Or am I being too cynical?

[aneerkoinos]

11. You guys are important

but not that important. These issues (double majority) vere "finalized" at the Convention, but the Convention is not final.

This is not about US being allies (a coincidense), this is about Spain and Poland, two middle size countries, striking an extremely good deal at the Nice gerrymandering fiasco, and wanting to keep what they got. The big and small countries want double majority and don't care about giving preferential treatment to Spain and Poland. So what's UK doing and why? UK is isolated and alone, and seeking allies where it possibly can - I take this as a sign of weakness in UK negotiation position.

[oneighty]

3. Successful EU

And peace in the ME is not on the PNAC menu.

IMHO

180

[ze_dscherman]

4. divide et empera

'nuff said

[Turley]

5. Not surprising

The smaller countries are not particularly thrilled with the notion of a Franco-German block which dominates the Union. After the Schroeder/Chirac midnight deal to push for a dual presidency, and especially after the way Germany and France flouted Stability Pact rules, no one is in much of a mood to give them anything else they ask for.

It's very simple, the new members just don't trust Germany and France.

[muriel_volestrangler]

6. I think Germany and France have a point

Why should Poland and Spain get 27 votes, and Germany, France, UK and Italy 29, when the populations are roughly 40 million for Spain and Poland, 60 million for France, UK, and Italy, and 80 million for Germany?

The 'need 50% of countries' rule means you need 13 countries to pass something - any Franco-German block would still need significant support from several countries.

[Turley]

7. But it's not THE point

Clearly they have a point on this issue. But their imperious behavior on other issues is the root cause today's intransigence by the smaller States.

Look at what they did on the Stability Pact. It's no wonder the little guys don't want to give them more power.

[Paschall]

8. We're only talking about one "new little guy" - Poland

Nine other nations are also joining the Union in the coming months.

Not to mention that most will benefit from EU funding provided by the large founding members, France and Germany. (Why do you think everyone was so eager to jump on board?)

[Turley]

9. Well.........

If you want to believe that everything is hunky-dory in EU-land then by all means feel free.

For anyone else who cares there is a massive level of distrust by the smaller members over Franco-German ambitions and that distrust has manifested itself time and again during the Constitutional negotiations.

Membership in the EU is certainly a grand thing, but not if you have to kow-tow to Paris and Berlin all the time.

[muriel_volestrangler]

10. the way I understood it

is that the little countries support double majority voting. It's the 2 medium-to-large size ones, Spain and Poland, who object to it (plus the UK now, for some unknown reason - trying to form a 'conservative' alliance with Poland?)

[aneerkoinos]

13. Greetings from hunky-dory EU-land

... from one of them smaller members. Are you in UK or US or elsewhere?

Sounds UK, cause that's where the "massive distrust over Franco-German ambitions" meme is most widely spread. Believing that the continentals share that meme is illusion. Sure, everybody bitches about everybody, but my country don't kow-tow to Paris and Berlin or London (...that would be laughable given their weakness), but seeks allies on issue-basis. Franco-German leadership is in most cases apprediated, things don't usually move anywhere before there is Franco-German position to negotiate, amend and compromise on.

[Turley]

14. Germany

I know a lot of E. Europeans both professionally and personally. They don't trust the French or the Germans. I don't particularly blame them, especially after the Stability Pact snafu.

[Lexingtonian]

15. oh, the feeling is mutual

In Europe it usually is. For example, the derisive German phrase for massive and systematic bungling is 'das ist ja eine Polenwirtschaft'.

[aneerkoinos]

17. The new EU motto

is 'united in difference', but more accurate would be 'loving to hate eachother'.

[Kellanved]

16. They're the biggest fish in the pond

The smaller countries need a strong French/German economy - and as I've posted before: the pact was a mistake from the start. A plunder pushed in the vain idea that Germany would never have a deficit that big - while creating it with a too high entry in the Euro. However: the German (and French) Economy can handle debt far better than almost all other (Japan being the exception), as the citizens save a lot of money. Borrowing that money back can be very sustainable for a short while.

I can understand the fears of the small countries, most see the EU as a Free Trade Zone, not a nation. As a result they resent giving up controll of their affairs - something they've won only recently. The EU - with the current inofficial "who-pays-the-piper" system or the proposed population weights - will shift control to the big two (three, should Britain decide to coma back aboard).

[aneerkoinos]

12. In this issue

the double majority, smaller countries are on the same side with big countries, Spain and Poland are pretty alone.

Inside the double majority, small countries want more relative power to countries and big countries to populations, quite naturally. The 60% 50% suggestion seems OK compromise.

If Spain and Poland stick to Nice and are supported by UK, the best they can hope for is to have Nice system until 2009 and then double majority. And I doubt they will succeed even in that.

In EU, by definition, nothing is very simple. It's a system of multiple variables.