Group items tagged

Under the motto "a more protective Europe", France takes over the rotating EU Presidency with an additional challenge – getting the EU out of an institutional crisis triggered by the rejection of the Lisbon Treaty in Ireland. More on this topic: News LinksDossiers Analysis France looks east ahead of EU Presidency (23 May 2008) Commission further waters down Med Union proposal (21 May 2008) France promises 'citizen-oriented' EU Presidency (16 May 2008) France outlines EU Presidency priorities (30 August 2007) The Portuguese Presidency: In Brief (03 August 2007) EU Presidencies (19 April 2005) Nicolas Sarkozy: A new style of EU Presidency? (08 May 2008) How France intends to meet all those EU presidency expectations (20 June 2008) Seen from America : What to expect from the French EU Presidency (20 June 2008) Sarkozy at the wheel of Europe: What to expect from the French EU Presidency (11 June 2008) Milestones: July-Dec. 2008: French Presidency. 11 July: Sarkozy visit to Ireland. 15-16 Oct.: EU Summit (Brussels). 11- 12 Dec.: EU Summit (Brussels). Policy Summary Links From 1 July to 31 December 2008, France will organise and chair the European Council meetings. The French government has already announced that its motto will be "a more protective Europe" (EurActiv 06/11/07).

Links Policy Summary Governments French EU Presidency website Permanent Represenation of France to the EU: French Presidency agenda | FR Prime Minster: Europe pages | FR Foreign Affairs Ministry : Europe pages French Senate: Budget for the French EU presidency General Secretariat for European Affairs (SGAE) Permanent Represenation of France to the EU Conference of Committee Chairmen of the European Parliament [FR] [DE] (20 May 2008)

The British parliament has ratified the Lisbon Treaty amid unruly protests, with the country's queen set to approve the document on Thursday (19 June) morning, in time for it to become UK law before the EU summit opens in Brussels. The British upper chamber, the House of Lords, on Wednesday evening voted down by 277 votes to 184 a Conservative Party proposal to delay ratification until October in view of the Irish No referendum last week.

With the queen set to approve the so-called EU Amendment Bill by pronouncing the Norman French formula "La Reine le veult" over the document today, the treaty will become British law around 10:00 local time, ahead of the EU meeting this afternoon.

Two legal challenges remain to the treaty, with Conservative MP Bill Cash calling on the High Court to rule whether the treaty is "incapable of ratification," and millionaire Stuart Wheeler awaiting a High Court decision on whether Britain should have called a referendum.

The EU's 27 leaders are gathering in Brussels to chew and swallow two hot potatoes - how to respond to Irish voters' rejection of the Lisbon Treaty, a set of EU internal reforms, and to the record high oil and food prices. Precisely one week ago, Ireland put on ice the EU's latest attempt to undergo wide-reaching institutional changes aimed at simplifying the way the 27-nation bloc is run and allowing it to absorb more new member states.

So far, EU heavyweights - France and Germany - have insisted that the ratification marathon continues. On Wednesday (18 June), the legal document was ratified by the UK parliament, bringing the overall number of countries to 19. But one diplomat has suggested EU leaders are likely to tiptoe around the eurosceptic government of the Czech Republic, seen as the most unpredictable player when it comes to the ratification process.

EU leaders meeting in Brussels on Thursday (19 June) will spend little time discussing enlargement of the bloc, and are not expected to do more than reaffirm western Balkan countries' "European perspective" – despite greater expectations from some of the EU hopefuls. One such country – Macedonia, an EU candidate since 2005 – has lately been indicating its readiness to start accession negotiations as soon as possible.

Macedonia had had high expectations on starting accession negotiations during Ljubljana's time at the EU helm, as Slovenia – which was part of the former Yugoslavia together with Macedonia – has made the Western Balkans' EU integration a priority of its presidency. Moreover, not winning the announcement of a date now means that Skopje may not start negotiations this year at all, as the next EU presidency country, France, has explicitly taken Greece's side in the name row, and is not expected to put a particular emphasis on enlargement issues.

EU leaders are gathering in Lisbon on Thursday (18 October) in an effort to put a full stop behind the 2005 political debacle, which saw French and Dutch voters rejecting the draft European Constitution. If all goes as planned, the 27-nation bloc will by the end of tomorrow have politically agreed a new 'Reform Treaty', but much will depend on how far Italy and Poland are prepared to go to defend their particular demands.

With only three days until EU leaders meet in Lisbon to adopt a new EU treaty, a number of issues are continuing to cloud the horizon. EU foreign ministers at their final pre-summit talks in Luxembourg on Monday (15 October) left the contentious issues to the 27 heads of states and governments to work out a deal at the end of this week (18-19 October).

The incoming Portuguese presidency has set aside just three months for negotiation on a new EU treaty, believing the weekend's tempestuous summit resulted in sufficiently clear directions to wrap up a new text. According to Portuguese ambassador Alvaro Mendonca, formal negotiations will be opened on 23 July with the aim to have them signed off by EU leaders on 18-19 October.

For their part, MEPs are now working on their formal response to EU leaders – both the European Parliament and the European Commission have to give the green light for the intergovernmental negotiations to go ahead. German socialist MEP and constitutional affairs committee chief Jo Leinen gave a cautious welcome to the outline, but criticised how the final treaty will look and how the bitter summit negotiations resulting in specific concessions here and there for individual member states appeared to signal the end of the "European spirit."

With just three days to go to a tense summit on the future of the EU treaty, Poland has still not decided if prime minister Jaroslaw Kaczysnki or president Lech Kaczynski will go to Brussels, in a move that could indicate how hard Poland will fight for voting system reforms.

The question comes amid an ugly disagreement between Warsaw and the German EU presidency over EU voting weights - an elaborate calculus on power sharing that kicks in on the rare occasions that EU members cannot agree on new laws by consensus. Berlin and almost all other EU members want to go for a "double majority" system, which gives big states more power vis-a-vis medium-sized countries than the current "Nice" system. But Poland is pushing for a middle way, based on the "square root" of member states' populations.

Berlin has identified seven outstanding problems to be discussed at next week's EU leader's summit on a new treaty for the bloc.

But several issues remain open ahead of what is set to be a defining summit for the treaty negotiations beginning on Thursday (21 June). These are: the question of symbols (such as the flag, hymn and anthem) and whether they should be included and whether it should be explicitly stated that EU law has primacy over national law; "possible terminological changes"; the treatment of the Charter of Fundamental Rights; the "specificity" of the common foreign and security policy; the "delimitation of competences" between the EU and the member states and the role of national parliaments. Despite numerous requests by Poland however, the voting system remains off the list of topics that require "further discussion."

In this issue Enlargement high on EU agenda for 2008 too Mixed reception for Albanian local elections Turkey's pension reform is "in the right direction" Strategy for civil society in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia EU support for upgrading Albania’s civil registration Helping Bosnia and Herzegovina in communications regulation Serbian wine sector gets EU assistance Discussions start in Vienna on Kosovo settlement proposal Cooperation in south east Europe border security Croatia in media freedom spotlight Student grant database for South-East Europe Positive prospects for Turkey and Western Balkans

In this issue > Croatia's progress measured at SAA Council Wallström visits Turkey for Women's Day EU awaits Serbia's new government Kosovo status discussions to move to New York Bosnia and Herzegovina to remain under surveillance Montenegro comes closer to EU EU assistance to Albanian justice system Improving policing of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Hopes of Cyprus breakthrough from a breach in a wall Rehn reminds the EU of its power to act EU foreign affairs ministers extend backing for ICTY "Boost EU commitment to Western Balkans", says paper Stability Pact successor takes shape EU Presidency comments on the ICJ Balkan genocide judgement

EU summit backs enlargement strategy European Union leaders gave their full backing to the enlargement strategy at their summit in Brussels on December 14. They looked forward to further rounds of accession negotiations with Turkey and Croatia before the end of the year. They confirmed the EU's vital role in assuring stability in the Western Balkans, and agreed to send an ESDP mission to Kosovo. And they agreed precise terms for the reflection group on the long-term future of Europe. This final issue for 2007 of Enlargement News provides highlights from the European Council, as well an update on other key enlargement-related developments. In this issue Endorsement for the enlargement strategy EU willing to send mission to Kosovo Progress on Turkey's accession negotiations Western Balkans "belong in the EU" Serbia invited to make "rapid progress" to EU Croatia "on track" towards EU membership SAA initialled with Bosnia and Herzegovina Albania makes progress, but governance and rule of law require further efforts The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia must accelerate the pace of reform Montenegro entering "critical phase" Limited remit for Reflection Group EU allocates pre-accession assistance to candidate countries Rehn contrasts past and present of EU foreign and security policy Turkish Students win trip to EU

Ukraine is currently negotiating visa-free travel with the EU as part of a wide-ranging association agreement, as some of the country's politicians express hopes for a clearer "European perspective". EurActiv outlines various scenarios for Ukraine's expected rocky path towards closer EU integration.

Background: Ukraine, a country of 46 million people wedged between the EU and Russia, has broken with its Soviet and totalitarian past, but its democracy is still young and fragile.  While enlargement to Ukraine is not officially on the table and is widely seen as premature, the option is supported by Central European countries and many Ukrainian politicians. On the other hand, the EU's readiness to absorb large countries like Turkey or Ukraine is currently limited.  Ukraine's record has been shaky since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 and the Orange Revolution in 2004, notably due to government instability, fights between the prime minister and the president, and numerous scandals (see EurActiv 04/09/08).  In parallel, Ukraine is negotiating an association agreement with the EU, which would essentially see the two open their markets to one another, like any free trade agreement, but one step short of the customs union in force with Turkey. Creating visa-free travel with Ukraine could also be an important step in its EU rapprochement.  Ukrainian membership of NATO was rejected at the Bucharest Summit in April 2008, at the same time as Georgia's was turned down (EurActiv 02/04/09). According to some analysts, the decision facilitated the latter's invasion of South Ossetia and Abkhazia four months later. 

Many politicians in Ukraine wish to see their country enter the EU through the main entrance. The reality, however, is that the process will likely result in entry via a side door after hanging around in several waiting rooms in the meantime, experts in Brussels and Kyiv told EurActiv.