European Union

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."

EU foreign ministers have agreed on how the new EU treaty should be presented – it should not be called a constitution, and not contain symbols such as an EU flag – but key divisions on the substance of the text remain unresolved.

But deep rifts remain on key parts of the treaty that go beyond mere names and symbols and which concern the division of power between the EU and its member states. The status of the Charter of Fundamental Rights – a document listing citizens rights and fully integrated into the draft constitution – is the subject of strong controversy, with the UK in particular opposing a charter that is legally binding.

Paris and Madrid seek the scrapping of a number of national vetoes as proposed in the draft constitution. This is strongly opposed by London which is not yet prepared to give up its veto in justice and police matters.

An opinion survey in five big EU states show most people want referendums on the new EU treaty in opposition to the current trend to agree a document that will be put only to national parliaments for ratification. According to an FT/Harris Poll published on Monday (18 June), 75 percent of Spaniards, 71 percent of Germans, 69 percent of Britons, 68 percent of Italians and 64 percent of French people consider the post-constitution treaty important enough to warrant a referendum

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.

Support for the EU among the bloc's citizens has risen to the highest level since early 1990s with two thirds favouring the concept of a European constitution, but a state-like EU charter is opposed most strongly by Brits, Danes and Swedes.

Fifty nine percent of respondents said they consider EU membership as beneficial for their country - the highest percentage since 1991, while overall support for the union stands at 57 percent, at its highest since 1994.

The meeting of the 27 teams of sherpas - EU member state negotiators – showed there are still divisions in six areas - the Charter of Fundamental Rights, primacy of EU law over national law, the transfer of power between the EU and member states, common foreign and security policy, the role of the national parliaments and the voting system. The Charter of Fundamental Rights, listing citizens' social and civil rights, prompted the hottest debate last night, with strong arguments flying from both camps. The German Presidency has suggested there should be only a reference to the charter in the new reform package, but the UK continues to oppose it becoming a legally binding document. Similarly, Berlin has suggested dropping from the treaty the controversial line stating that EU law has primacy over national laws, and instead putting it in a separate declaration, which would accompany the treaty. But some EU capitals are not yet ready to accept the watered-down compromise.

Poland will not take part in any intergovernmental talks on a new EU treaty that do not discuss EU voting rights, but the square root voting model is open to negotiation, Polish officials said, indicating a willingness to compromise. "If there's no possibility to discuss such an important item as the voting issue, then there's no point in having an intergovernmental conference [IGC]," a Polish delegate said, speaking before the 27 teams of sherpas - EU member state negotiators - sat down in Brussels at 17:00 local time on Tuesday evening (19 June).

Wird die Europäische Union mit 25 und mehr Mitgliedstaaten auf gemeinsamen Vorstellungen zur Politikgestaltung und gemeinsamen Leitbildern basieren? Bestehen Fragmentierungstendenzen zwischen den alten und den neuen Mitgliedstaaten im Hinblick auf ihre grundlegenden europapolitischen Zielsetzungen oder teilen sie eher ein gemeinsames Set an Überzeugungen, Ideen, Konzeptionen und Visionen zu Europa? Befindet sich die Europäische Union trotz der jüngst in Frankreich und den Niederlanden gescheiterten Referenden auf einem kontinuierlichen Pfad der Integrationsvertiefung? Oder weisen die unterschiedlichen Geschwindigkeiten und Ergebnisse im Ratifikationsprozess in den EU-Mitgliedstaaten eher in Richtung eines Prozesses der Neuformierung europapolitischer Leitbilder?

French president Nicolas Sarkozy is to travel to Brussels today (23 May) to discuss France's vision for a new treaty for the bloc. He will meet European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso to present his ideas for a simplified document, almost two years after French and Dutch voters rejected the original constitution in referendums.

during Mr Sarkozy's presidential campaign, he made one key speech on the issue in Brussels last year in which he expanded on his proposal for a "mini-treaty" – with officials in Brussels keen to see if he is still promoting the same structure.

French president Nicolas Sarkozy is to force a debate on Turkey and whether it belongs in the European Union in the coming months, despite visible reluctance by the European Commission to confront the issue.

Speaking about the new treaty – to replace the rejected EU constitution - Mr Sarkozy said he believed that leaders are "making headway around the idea of a simplified treaty."

Probable future bones of contention include Mr Sarkozy's continued insistence that member states should have more influence in European Central Bank decisions - he said he would come forward with an "economic governance" initiative.

European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso has warned both Poland and the UK not to block attempts to agree a new treaty for the European Union. Speaking about Poland with Financial Times Deutschland, Mr Barroso indicated it was time for Warsaw to show the same solidarity it demanded on issues to do with Russia towards solving the EU's internal problems.

A small group of politicians from around the EU have published a repackaged treaty for the bloc, hoping to feed into the emerging consensus among member states that a "simplified treaty" has to be extracted from the ashes of the rejected EU constitution.

The treaty has been reduced to 70 articles (12,800 words) plus two protocols, one containing institutional changes and one containing policy innovations - by contrast the original EU constitution contained 448 articles and around 63,000 words. The chopped down dimensions come from only taking the innovations contained in the third part of the treaty - which essentially ties together former EU treaties - and putting them into additional protocols.

The announcement by Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn that talks will be reopened with Serbia follows the arrest of alleged war criminal Zdravko Tolimir on 31 May 2007 (see EurActiv 31/05/07). Tolimir, a senior military aid to General Mladic, was handed over to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague. 

Die Kommission hat ihre Zustimmung für die Wiederaufnahme der Gespräche mit Serbien über einen Stabilisierungs- und Assoziierungsvertrag (SAA) gegeben. In dieser Woche wird in Belgrad der Besuch der Chefanklägerin des Internationalen Gerichthofs für Kriegsverbrechen, Carla del Ponte, erwartet.

Die Ankündigung des Kommissars für Erweiterung, Olli Rehn, dass Gespräche mit Serbien wieder eröffnet würden, erfolgte nach der Verhaftung des mutmaßlichen Kriegsverbrechers Zdravko Tolimir am 31. Mai 2007 (EurActiv 31. Mai 2007). Tolimir, einer der engsten Militärberater des Generals Ratko Mladic, wurde dem Internationaler Strafgerichtshof für das ehemalige Jugoslawien (ICTY) in Den Haag übergeben.

Speaking to the Sunday Times (10 June), the Conservative leader David Cameron suggested the British public would follow every move by the current UK prime minister and his successor Gordon Brown regarding the revised EU constitution. "Any treaty that is about the transfer of powers to the EU must be put to the country in a referendum," he said. Similar signals came from some Labour MPs, with Frank Field, a former Labour minister, arguing that any back down on a former promise to hold a popular vote on the new EU treaty would be "against all the rhetoric of a government that says it wants to reconnect with a disillusioned electorate."

Der polnische Premierminister Jaroslaw Kaczynski hat die Hoffnungen der Staats- und Regierungschefs enttäuscht, möglichst bald einen Ausweg aus der institutionellen Sackgasse der EU zu finden. Kaczynski sagte, dass neue Vertragsverhandlungen mehr als ein Jahr dauern könnten. Der Präsident des Europäischen Parlaments, Hans-Gert Pöttering, warnte, dass ein polnisches Veto die "Union in eine Krise stürzen würde".