Have you ever followed the hectic life of small birds, unwittingly having become foster parents for a gluttonous young cuckoo?
Hectic and unrewarding, the life of these unsung heroes.
How about having two of these rapacious strangers, instead of only one, as in nature?
Why do I think about the thankless task of these desperate and overworked foster parents, when I turn to the visible output from the General Affairs Council of the European Union?
More than foreign affairs
Although the European Union is much, much more than foreign affairs, the coordinating General Affairs Council (GAC) is still dominated by foreign ministers, for whom it is a sideshow.
At the same time, the foreign ministers face the enormous challenge to shape the European Union into an effictive and influential actor in world affairs, in all fields of external action. Enough of a challenge to keep the foreign ministers busy for a decade or more, I would think, even if they concentrated on this main job.
GAC role
Currently the GAC does not fulfil the expectations created by the Lisbon Treaty, which gave it a permanent and important treaty based position.
The GAC was entrusted with the vital role to coordinate Council work (other configurations). It is also the task of the General Affairs Council to prepare and to ensure the follow-up of the European Council.
The bulk of real EU powers and resources concerns about two dozen policy areas of internal action, so the challenge looks daunting enough, but consistency has been left to the foreign policy divas, as a diversion.
In addition, the spring European Council is supposed to be the crowning moment for economic governance and economic reforms for growth and employment, guiding the work towards Europe 2020 (EU2020) goals.
Treaty aims vs delivery
The principles of as much openess as possible and as much closeness to the citizen as possible are laid down in Article 1 of the Treaty on European Union.
The enhanced role and tasks of the GAC were established by Article 16(6) TEU.
Article 16(6) TEU finally separated the GAC from its then dominant Siamese twin, the Foreign Affairs Council (FAC).
In the name of openness and closeness, the GAC could and should become an important stage in public discourse just ahead of the European Council (as well as after), but what has happened?
Make your own assessment of how the aims and potential have come to fruition. Reflect on the gap between expectations, potential and delivery:
3079th Council meeting General Affairs; Brussels, 21 March 2011 (Council document 7932/11)
Concrete conclusions
Instead of reasoned proposals and supporting materials, we get these inane ”conclusions”, with regard to the issues on the agenda of the European Council:
The Council took stock of the humanitarian situation in Libya and neighbouring countries.
The Council took stock of the EU's response to the humanitarian crisis in Japan.
The Council examined draft conclusions for the European Council meeting to be held on 24 and 25 March.
This is parody, pure and simple.
The rest of the text concerning economic policy is in essence an agenda, since it presents only the issues to be dealt with at the European Council (page 8-9).
The only redeeming feature would have been the report from the presidency on progress in implementation of the European Semester submitted to the European Council (doc. 7745/11), if the link in the original had actually worked.
If the GAC actually said something worthwhile, its tasks would be a bit more rewarding than feeding the cuckoos.
European Semester: implementation
Going back, the document reference is useful, though. If we substitute the broken link by Council search, we find the presidency report in 22 official EU languages, including English:
Implementation of the European Semester - Synthesis report; Brussels, 16 March 2011 (document 7745/11; 21 pages)
Ralf Grahn
P.S. The web pages of the Hungarian presidency of the Council of the European Union are one of the important sources of day to day information about EU events, including ones less visible than formal Council meetings.
Showing posts with label Foreign Minister. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Foreign Minister. Show all posts
Tuesday, 22 March 2011
Wednesday, 9 December 2009
EU General Affairs Council results 7 to 8 December 2009
The conclusions of the 2984th meeting of the EU Council, General Affairs (GAC), on 7 December 2009 have now been posted on the Consilium web site (document 17217/09; 25 pages).
The GAC web page of the Swedish EU Council presidency has some information about the results of the meeting.
Monday’s general press release EU ministers prepared for the last summit under the Swedish EU presidency offered a brief recapitulation of the main issues. Tuesday’s press release EU concerned over lack of progress in Middle East peace process presented a summary of the foreign policy questions dealt with during the FAC meeting, as well as the enlargement issues dealt with by the GAC.
There are separate press releases on the financial package for the accession negotiations with Croatia, conclusions regarding a special report by the Court of Auditors, as well as a separate issue of the conclusions on the enlargement process.
***
Here are some highlights with personal reflections.
Foreign ministers
The Lisbon Treaty split the former General Affairs and External Relations Council configuration (GAERC) into two separate formations: the General Affairs Council (GAC) and the Foreign Affairs Council (FAC).
In practice, the list of participants was dominated by ministers for foreign affairs, although in many cases accompanied by ministers or state secretaries for European affairs.
Was it because of the enlargement questions, or is this going to be the model, at least for the GAC meetings preparing the European Council?
If the foreign ministers become a permanent fixture, we can ask: What was the object of the Lisbon Treaty exercise?
European Council
The main task of the GAC was to prepare the meeting of the European Council Thursday 10 and Friday 11 December 2009. The draft conclusions will be reviewed by the Swedish Council presidency in the light of the GAC discussions (so no published document there to steal the limelight).
Presidency trio 2010 to 2011
The draft 18 month programme of the Council presidency trio of Spain, Belgium and Hungary, from 1 January 2010 to 30 June 2011, was presented and published (link to document 16771/09; 89 pages).
The first part of the programme presents the strategic framework, and the second part is the operational programme, which sets out practically every major policy issue expected to surface during the coming one and a half years.
Even if programmes and presidencies are sometimes overtaken by events, both Council and Commission programmes are worth reading for people with a serious interest in EU affairs.
Enlargement
The GAC adopted conclusions on the enlargement strategy, including individual statements on Turkey, Croatia, Iceland, and the Western Balkans.
Points 32 and 33 seem to indicate that the former Athenian Republic of the Greek peninsula (aka Hellenic Republic or Greece) is still blocking the start of accession negotiations for the Republic of Macedonia under its real name.
It is hard to say what is more absurd: stubborn Greek allegations that a historic name entails territorial claims, or Greece’s willingness to use veto powers against the opinion of the major part of the international community.
By the way, if and when all countries on the road to accession become EU members, the unanimity problems and the huge over-representation of the smallest member states will seriously hurt the European Union’s ambitions to speak with one voice in the world, and to act as one. The Lisbon Treaty is clearly inadequate as it is, but have our leaders told us that?
Ralf Grahn
P.S. Do you find EUSSR myths fascinating? Are we EU citizens worth a better European Union? Educate yourself!
Growing, multilingual Bloggingportal.eu now aggregates 494 euroblogs, representing both national viewpoints and pan-European angles.
You can access all the posts on the Posts page or concentrate on the editors’ choice of articles on the Home page. On most of the blogs you can comment and discuss our common European future. Please, do.
Blogs on EU affairs and European themes, by associations, networks, business interests or individuals, can join Bloggingportal.eu. Gain visibility, credibility and readers by proposing a new blog!
The GAC web page of the Swedish EU Council presidency has some information about the results of the meeting.
Monday’s general press release EU ministers prepared for the last summit under the Swedish EU presidency offered a brief recapitulation of the main issues. Tuesday’s press release EU concerned over lack of progress in Middle East peace process presented a summary of the foreign policy questions dealt with during the FAC meeting, as well as the enlargement issues dealt with by the GAC.
There are separate press releases on the financial package for the accession negotiations with Croatia, conclusions regarding a special report by the Court of Auditors, as well as a separate issue of the conclusions on the enlargement process.
***
Here are some highlights with personal reflections.
Foreign ministers
The Lisbon Treaty split the former General Affairs and External Relations Council configuration (GAERC) into two separate formations: the General Affairs Council (GAC) and the Foreign Affairs Council (FAC).
In practice, the list of participants was dominated by ministers for foreign affairs, although in many cases accompanied by ministers or state secretaries for European affairs.
Was it because of the enlargement questions, or is this going to be the model, at least for the GAC meetings preparing the European Council?
If the foreign ministers become a permanent fixture, we can ask: What was the object of the Lisbon Treaty exercise?
European Council
The main task of the GAC was to prepare the meeting of the European Council Thursday 10 and Friday 11 December 2009. The draft conclusions will be reviewed by the Swedish Council presidency in the light of the GAC discussions (so no published document there to steal the limelight).
Presidency trio 2010 to 2011
The draft 18 month programme of the Council presidency trio of Spain, Belgium and Hungary, from 1 January 2010 to 30 June 2011, was presented and published (link to document 16771/09; 89 pages).
The first part of the programme presents the strategic framework, and the second part is the operational programme, which sets out practically every major policy issue expected to surface during the coming one and a half years.
Even if programmes and presidencies are sometimes overtaken by events, both Council and Commission programmes are worth reading for people with a serious interest in EU affairs.
Enlargement
The GAC adopted conclusions on the enlargement strategy, including individual statements on Turkey, Croatia, Iceland, and the Western Balkans.
Points 32 and 33 seem to indicate that the former Athenian Republic of the Greek peninsula (aka Hellenic Republic or Greece) is still blocking the start of accession negotiations for the Republic of Macedonia under its real name.
It is hard to say what is more absurd: stubborn Greek allegations that a historic name entails territorial claims, or Greece’s willingness to use veto powers against the opinion of the major part of the international community.
By the way, if and when all countries on the road to accession become EU members, the unanimity problems and the huge over-representation of the smallest member states will seriously hurt the European Union’s ambitions to speak with one voice in the world, and to act as one. The Lisbon Treaty is clearly inadequate as it is, but have our leaders told us that?
Ralf Grahn
P.S. Do you find EUSSR myths fascinating? Are we EU citizens worth a better European Union? Educate yourself!
Growing, multilingual Bloggingportal.eu now aggregates 494 euroblogs, representing both national viewpoints and pan-European angles.
You can access all the posts on the Posts page or concentrate on the editors’ choice of articles on the Home page. On most of the blogs you can comment and discuss our common European future. Please, do.
Blogs on EU affairs and European themes, by associations, networks, business interests or individuals, can join Bloggingportal.eu. Gain visibility, credibility and readers by proposing a new blog!
Friday, 20 March 2009
Lisbon Treaty & European Council: Changing participation
Although only the President of the European Council is added as a member (without a vote) and the High Representative as a participant, the Treaty of Lisbon has both direct consequences and potential implications for summit participation.
The formal changes appear in Article 15(3) of the amended Treaty on European Union (TEU), which replaces the corresponding provisions of the current Article 4 TEU.
***
Convened by President
Under the Lisbon Treaty, the European Council is convened by its President, not the member state holding the rotating Council Presidency.
***
Meetings
The European Council started by holding one (ordinary) meeting during each six month Presidency, with the current treaty setting the minimum at twice a year. But long ago the European Council moved to two meetings, so the Lisbon Treaty only codifies existing practice. (Nowadays the meetings are normally held in Brussels, breaking with the tradition to hold one meeting in the country of the Council Presidency.)
The Lisbon Treaty adds that the President can convene a special meeting when the situation so requires. Currently the ‘at least’ offers room for additional meetings, as seen during the French and Czech Council Presidencies.
***
High Representative
The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy participates in the meetings.
The existing General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC) mentioned in Article 2 of the Council’s Rules of Procedure is most closely linked to the European Council through its coordinating functions and its subject matter, external relations.
The Treaty of Lisbon splits the GAERC into two different Council configurations: the coordinating General Affairs Council (GAC) and the Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) (Article 16(6) TEU Lisbon).
(Preparatory work is needed for the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty.)
The High Representative chairs the Foreign Affairs Council (FAC), which means that it would be represented at the meetings of the European Council without the Foreign Ministers of the member states (Article 27(1) TEU Lisbon).
***
Foreign Ministers
The Foreign Ministers are the losers.
According to the current Article 4 TEU, the Foreign Ministers of the member states and a member of the Commission assist the members of the European Council.
The Treaty of Lisbon abolishes the automatic representation for the Foreign Ministers and the ‘extra’ Commissioner.
The members of the European Council can meet without ‘outsiders’. Under Lisbon, it is even the default option. If the agenda so requires, the members may decide to be assisted by a minister (and Commissioner).
The Foreign Affairs Council is represented by the High Representative anyway. The so called Europeanisation of EU affairs has increasingly made them part of internal policies in the member state and the activities of the European Union go well beyond the traditional area of foreign policy.
The current GAERC has had some difficulty in fulfilling the expectations concerning coordination of the European Council meetings. There are hopes that the new General Affairs Council (GAC) would be better equipped to concentrate on this task.
***
Speculation
Europe Ministers
Ministers for Europe (and the like) have often been junior ministers (formally or informally) in comparison with Foreign Ministers.
If the new GAC becomes more influential, partly because the Council Presidency in turn finds it an outlet for its ambitions, it could mean that the Europe Ministers’ posts start moving towards more heavyweight divisions when new Cabinets are formed in the member states.
If the coordinating functions internally and externally accrue to the Europe Ministers over time, they may become the natural choices to assist their Prime Minister of President during the European Council meetings.
Prime Ministers
Usually the Prime Minister (or President) has the final word on EU affairs. It would probably be unrealistic to expect them to haggle over details at GAC meetings, then to continue the same discussions in the European Council.
But the Prime Minister of the Council Presidency may feel homeless, when the President of the European Council takes over leading its meetings. It is imaginable that the Prime Minister is tempted to chair the meetings of the GAC, at least ahead of the European Council meetings, perhaps even during the six months at the helm of the Council.
Article 15(3) TEU (Lisbon Treaty)
3. The European Council shall meet twice every six months, convened by its President. When the agenda so requires, the members of the European Council may decide each to be assisted by a minister and, in the case of the President of the Commission, by a member of the Commission. When the situation so requires, the President shall convene a special meeting of the European Council.
(OJEU 9.5.2008 C 115/23)
Ralf Grahn
The formal changes appear in Article 15(3) of the amended Treaty on European Union (TEU), which replaces the corresponding provisions of the current Article 4 TEU.
***
Convened by President
Under the Lisbon Treaty, the European Council is convened by its President, not the member state holding the rotating Council Presidency.
***
Meetings
The European Council started by holding one (ordinary) meeting during each six month Presidency, with the current treaty setting the minimum at twice a year. But long ago the European Council moved to two meetings, so the Lisbon Treaty only codifies existing practice. (Nowadays the meetings are normally held in Brussels, breaking with the tradition to hold one meeting in the country of the Council Presidency.)
The Lisbon Treaty adds that the President can convene a special meeting when the situation so requires. Currently the ‘at least’ offers room for additional meetings, as seen during the French and Czech Council Presidencies.
***
High Representative
The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy participates in the meetings.
The existing General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC) mentioned in Article 2 of the Council’s Rules of Procedure is most closely linked to the European Council through its coordinating functions and its subject matter, external relations.
The Treaty of Lisbon splits the GAERC into two different Council configurations: the coordinating General Affairs Council (GAC) and the Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) (Article 16(6) TEU Lisbon).
(Preparatory work is needed for the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty.)
The High Representative chairs the Foreign Affairs Council (FAC), which means that it would be represented at the meetings of the European Council without the Foreign Ministers of the member states (Article 27(1) TEU Lisbon).
***
Foreign Ministers
The Foreign Ministers are the losers.
According to the current Article 4 TEU, the Foreign Ministers of the member states and a member of the Commission assist the members of the European Council.
The Treaty of Lisbon abolishes the automatic representation for the Foreign Ministers and the ‘extra’ Commissioner.
The members of the European Council can meet without ‘outsiders’. Under Lisbon, it is even the default option. If the agenda so requires, the members may decide to be assisted by a minister (and Commissioner).
The Foreign Affairs Council is represented by the High Representative anyway. The so called Europeanisation of EU affairs has increasingly made them part of internal policies in the member state and the activities of the European Union go well beyond the traditional area of foreign policy.
The current GAERC has had some difficulty in fulfilling the expectations concerning coordination of the European Council meetings. There are hopes that the new General Affairs Council (GAC) would be better equipped to concentrate on this task.
***
Speculation
Europe Ministers
Ministers for Europe (and the like) have often been junior ministers (formally or informally) in comparison with Foreign Ministers.
If the new GAC becomes more influential, partly because the Council Presidency in turn finds it an outlet for its ambitions, it could mean that the Europe Ministers’ posts start moving towards more heavyweight divisions when new Cabinets are formed in the member states.
If the coordinating functions internally and externally accrue to the Europe Ministers over time, they may become the natural choices to assist their Prime Minister of President during the European Council meetings.
Prime Ministers
Usually the Prime Minister (or President) has the final word on EU affairs. It would probably be unrealistic to expect them to haggle over details at GAC meetings, then to continue the same discussions in the European Council.
But the Prime Minister of the Council Presidency may feel homeless, when the President of the European Council takes over leading its meetings. It is imaginable that the Prime Minister is tempted to chair the meetings of the GAC, at least ahead of the European Council meetings, perhaps even during the six months at the helm of the Council.
Article 15(3) TEU (Lisbon Treaty)
3. The European Council shall meet twice every six months, convened by its President. When the agenda so requires, the members of the European Council may decide each to be assisted by a minister and, in the case of the President of the Commission, by a member of the Commission. When the situation so requires, the President shall convene a special meeting of the European Council.
(OJEU 9.5.2008 C 115/23)
Ralf Grahn
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