The page has turned
In this same period of great construction, the European Union is also entering after the official documents on the admission of 10 new countries were signed in Athens on April 16, which will become its full members on May 1, 2004 - Hungary, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, and Estonia. Their combined population is 75 million, and as a result of the enlargement, 453 million people will live in the EU.
The 10-year period of complex negotiations on the terms of admission, on the compliance of various states with established criteria, and on the introduction by candidates of European laws, norms, and rules into national legislation and everyday life is ending. This required considerable effort and sacrifice from the newcomers, but now the task is even more difficult: to live according to new rules that, although established jointly, still come from distant Brussels. Will it be easy for new countries that have barely had time to get used to independence in politics, and some to national statehood?
In short, a new construction is beginning in the EU, the foundation of which is five thousand pages of the Treaty of Accession.
At the Athens celebrations, most leaders publicly spoke about the historical significance of the event, about the restoration of Europe's unity. True, historically Europe was never unified, even during the times of maximum expansion of Ancient Rome or at the zenith of Charlemagne's empire, when only part of the continent was integrated in accordance with the concepts of that era... But what matters here is not historical accuracy, but the emotional designation of the fact that already 25 European countries are beginning to live by common rules in order to ensure peace, stability, and economic prosperity for each other. The main thing here is the recognition of the effectiveness of the EU model, which created a successful mechanism of cooperation, materialized within its borders the dream of Immanuel Kant of a lasting peace. "From a historical point of view," the EU President, Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis, wrote before this event in an article published in a number of European newspapers, "one can speak of an example of the largest international cooperation ever carried out."
In this regard, Athens also became a strong symbol. The documents were signed at the foot of the Acropolis, in the ancient Athenian Agora, where Athenians learned more than 2.5 thousand years ago to discuss and decide common affairs together. It can be considered the birthplace of democracy, European civilization as a whole, a birth accomplished under the shadow of the patroness of the city, the goddess of wisdom Athena, who gave people the culture of the olive tree.
New Challenges
But the European Union of 25 countries will no longer be what it is now. What was good for the six founding states and later adapted at previous stages of enlargement is no longer suitable for such a number of participants. Much must change, and radically. The Athens meeting, focused on celebrations, did not set itself the task of solving these problems, but it outlined them.
The most urgent, albeit short-term, task was the return to consensus on foreign policy issues, undermined by the difference in the approach of European capitals to the Iraqi crisis. Next, it is necessary to reform the EU institutions, mechanisms of power and governance. Grand peaks loom on the horizon - the revision of fundamental economic programs, above all the Common Agricultural Policy and programs to assist backward countries and regions of the EU.
In the Greek capital, the Iraqi cracks were papered over, although their consequences will make themselves felt for a long time. The leaders of the, conventionally speaking, military and peaceful camps in the EU arrived in Athens with an obvious desire to find common ground and restore dialogue. British Prime Minister Tony Blair had visited Hanover on the eve and held talks with German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, and in Athens he met French President Jacques Chirac, who was ready to seek compromise. The common denominator was the recognition in Athens of the central role of the UN in post-war Iraq and the EU's readiness to participate in the economic and political reconstruction of that country. The emphatic desire not to oppose the United States and to restore transatlantic dialogue was indicative. This creates the basis for "Europe speaking in the world with one voice."
But looking ahead, the Iraqi crisis that had just been experienced raised a question in the EU: what will this voice talk about and who will determine it? What should the corresponding mechanism be? It is quite possible that a group of countries will appear within the Union that is ready to follow the path of deep integration in foreign policy and security. After all, in the EU there is now already a group of states with a single currency - the euro, and a group that formed the Schengen area, in which full freedom of movement of people operates. Jacques Chirac spoke frankly on this topic during the Athens celebrations: "Some will want to move faster and go further, as happened with the euro and Schengen. Such will be the role of those whom I called the group of pioneers. They will begin a new level of cooperation, respecting the achievements of the Union and remaining open to all who want and can join them."
Will the way be open for the emergence of alliances within the Union, for what not so long ago was called a multi-speed Europe? Let's not get ahead of ourselves.
New EU - New Institutions
A separate matter is the reform of EU institutions, which is being handled by the European Convention headed by former French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing. In Athens, the leaders of the Fifteen met with him in the presence of the leaders of the Ten acceding countries. He spoke about the interim results of the work on drafting a document that is already being called the future European Constitution or the Constitutional Treaty.
As it has become known, many contentious points have been identified, while consensus is forming around two provisions. First, at the upcoming session of the European Council at the end of June in Thessaloniki (Greece), the leader of the Convention is to present a finished text to the heads of state and government. They will decide what to do next. Second, agreement is being formalized on creating the post of "European foreign minister." Currently these functions are distributed between the EU's High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy and the member of the European Commission for External Relations. These posts are held respectively by the Spaniard Javier Solana and the Briton Chris Patten. But even here there is closeness on the very principle of the creation of this post, not on its functions. For example, should a common foreign policy be formulated at the level of national governments, as now, or will it be at least partially transferred to a supranational level?
Meanwhile, disputes continue over other issues that are fundamental to the normal functioning of the Union and ensuring its governability. Should the principle of six-month rotating presidency among each country be retained (it is not hard to calculate how rarely each of the 25, and then 27, members will exercise this role) or should another system be devised, for example a collective presidency of countries? Should the president of the EU be elected in one of the proposed variants? Should each country retain a seat as a member of the European Commission, the Union's executive body, and if so, how can its unbounded expansion be avoided and its workability ensured? Should the Commission continue to be appointed or should it be elected so that it bears responsibility like any democratic body of power? If it is elected, by whom, and to whom will it be responsible? Should some joint legislative bodies be formed from the European and national parliaments? To simplify greatly: the large countries of the Union take more reformist positions, while the small countries fear losing their right to vote, dissolving completely into the common mass, and insist on preserving many of their rights. But no one disputes that the EU institutions should become more flexible, simple, and understandable to ordinary citizens... d'Estaing still has a lot of work.
"Ring of Friends"
At this stage, when, in the words of C. Simitis, the EU has "acquired new borders and new neighbors," its leaders consider the further strategic line on enlargement to be obvious. The President of the European Commission, Romano Prodi, stated in Athens that it is clear "for decades." Enlargement does not stop. First, the issue with three countries will be resolved (Bulgaria and Romania will join in 2007, while negotiations with Turkey will continue), then it will be the turn of the other Balkan countries, primarily those from the former Yugoslavia. "We must also build around the EU a belt of friends, a ring of friendly countries from Morocco in the south, along the Mediterranean shores, and to the east of our Union, as far as Russia," he formulates this course. "With this group of neighbors and friends, we intend to eventually share all the elements of our construction that ensure stability and progress. Everything except our institutions."
It is precisely the first brick in the building of this new cooperation that can be considered the holding in Athens on April 17 of the European Conference, to which not only leaders of current and future EU members were invited, but also high-ranking figures from a number of states from the prospective "ring of friends." The forum was given special scale by the participation of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
The conference was largely protocol and declaratory, but it allowed for broad bilateral and multilateral contacts and for work on bringing positions closer on the most acute issues that have divided not only the EU but also the entire international community in recent months. In this sense, it may become the first link in a permanent dialogue between the EU and its new neighbors. Then historians will also date the beginning of this era from Athens.
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