European Union

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 Danish discussion on whether to have a referendum on the new EU draft Treaty has taken another twist after the country's main opposition party changed course and called for a political discussion on the issue - instead of just a legal discussion as the government wants. The opposition leader, social democrat Helle Thorning-Schmidt, wants Denmark to enter into a political discussion once the treaty text has been negotiated and not just wait for a legal assessment.

The UK has secured its opt-out from EU justice measures in the bloc's new Reform Treaty but with tough conditions attached. Under draft rules agreed earlier this week by EU legal experts, the UK could be excluded from EU justice laws that are already signed up to by other member states

The Dutch government on Friday decided against holding a referendum on the new EU treaty – but parties in the Dutch parliament look set to ignore this decision and push for an own-initiative poll.

EU and Ukrainian leaders will today (14 September) meet to discuss advancements on a new bilateral agreement with Kiev hoping it will make a clearer allusion to eventual EU integration, but Brussels is still keeping Ukraine at arm's length.

The major political question of whether France will in future hold a referendum on the EU entry of Turkey and Balkan states may be soon re-opened for discussion, following the creation of a high-level committee on institutional reform by French president Nicolas Sarkozy.

The new president last month tasked a "Reflection Committee" of senior politicians and experts to re-think the overall institutional balance of the French Republic. Mr Sarkozy is hoping that this committee will also advise scrapping the compulsory referendum on EU accessions, Mr Quatremer writes on his blog.

As Belgrade and Pristina are heading for last resort negotiations on the future of Serbia's breakaway province of Kosovo, the European Union is set to maintain its fragile unity over the issue, amid clear signs it could become as divisive as Iraq did in 2003. EU foreign ministers - meeting in Brussels on Monday (23 July) - urged both, Serbs and Kosovars, to play a constructive role in the upcoming 120-day talks, designed to break the deadlock at the UN Security Council.

On the occasion of the Portuguese Presidency launch, Prime Minister José Socrates and Commission President José Manuel Barroso united to urge Poland and other member states to stick to their commitments on the EU Reform Treaty, as nationalist Polish politicians vowed to undermine it. Related: LinksDossier:   The Portuguese Presidency: In Brief LinksDossier:   The EU's 'Reform Treaty' Brief News: Polish nationalist politicians rallied in their opposition to the new Treaty on 2 July, which may endanger a swift agreement on a new EU Treaty at an Intergovernmental Conference (IGC), about to start on 23 July. Roman Giertych, leader of a government coalition party, the League of Polish Families, announced that he would strive to undermine the Treaty. "We will start a campaign against the Treaty because, thanks to Germany, it includes amendments that are putting EU interests ahead of Poland's interests," the nationalist leader told reporters on 2 July.

Published: Wednesday 4 July 2007 | Updated: Thursday 5 July 2007 Serbia has to adapt to the EU and not the other way round if it wants to become a member, argues David Gowan in a June 2007 paper for the Centre for European Reform (CER). Related: LinksDossier:   EU-Western Balkans relations The EU must stand ready to encourage and reward any shift in Belgrade’s stance towards Kosovo by resuming association talks and eventually offering candidate status, he believes. However, Serbia must earn this by genuinely and consistently demonstrating European values and maturity of behaviour if membership is to become a reality, he adds. 

According to the Eurostat scoreboard - based on 2006 figures - there are ocean wide gaps between EU member states when it comes to the purchasing power of their citizens. The figures vary from 37 to 280 percent of the EU-27 average.

What will be the theme of the new Reform Treaty, the outlines of which were agreed at the weekend? Will it have a big idea to give it meaning and purpose, or will it, like the Nice treaty, linger on, pointless and lamented. The answer lies in the enhanced capacity for the EU to act on the world stage. At present, the representation of the EU to third countries is divided three ways between the High Representative for the CFSP, the European Commissioner for External Relations and Neighbourhood Policy, and the foreign affairs minister of the member state that holds rotating presidency. Not surprisingly, this can sometimes be confusing.

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."

Die Europäische Union sucht nach neuen und effizienten Instrumenten für die Beziehungen zu ihrem unmittelbaren geographischen Umfeld. Die Europäische Nachbarschaftspolitik (ENP) zielt darauf ab, Stabilität und Prosperität in die östliche und südliche Peripherie der Union zu exportieren, ohne dabei automatisch eine Mitgliedschaft versprechen zu müssen. Das Buch, in dem Fachleute aus Wissenschaft und politischer Praxis zu Wort kommen, gibt zunächst einen Überblick über Beweggründe und Funktionsweise des strategischen Rahmens ENP. Exemplarisch gibt dann Einblick in wichtige Kooperationsfelder zwischen der EU und ihren Nachbarn, etwa Wirtschaft und Handel, Justiz und Inneres, Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik, Demokratisierung oder Energie. Schließlich werden Anregungen gegeben, wie die EU mit dem Widerspruch zwischen engerer Einbindung der Nachbarn und der Wahrung ihrer Handlungsfähigkeit umgehen kann.