Future of Europe: a new narrative?

Yesterday we looked at the European Union asking EU citizens, without the focus, resources or intent to act on the feedback, either on the fundamental issue of ownership (democracy) or more specific questions of individual policies. I wonder if the democratic conventions proposed by the French president Emmanuel Macron have been designed to be more effective channels of citizens’ political will than the public relations part of the Commission’s Future of Europe project, including the Citizens’ Dialogues.

A new narrative for Europe?

In April 2013, the sadness of being unloved made the president of the European Commission José Manuel Durão Barroso launch a culturally tinged project for a new narrative for Europe. Its most visible legacy was the declaration The mind and body of Europe, calling for a European “New Renaissance”.

In The New York Review of Books, Anne Applebaum turns to books by Heinrich Geiselberger, James Kirchick, Ivan Krastev, Giles Merritt, Anton Shekhovtsov and Loukas Tsoukalis with the question: A New European Narrative? The books “disagree about the endgame: where Europe is going, what it should become, and what it should do in order to get there.”

Democratic reform and effective powers require a level of of political energy that, according to  Applebaum, always seems to be missing at the European level. She asks if there is a potential “game changer” on the horizon, to test the proposition that what people really hate about Europe isn’t that it usurps power, but that it seems powerless.  

A new Commission effort was the project leading to the publication 12 ideas for the Future of Europe - New narrative for Europe communications campaign (manuscript finished June 2017; 64 pages), which is worth reading for the detailed findings about aspirations and  concerns of young people - employment, education, environmental protection and citizen participation being the main policy areas (page 16). With regard to democratic impact, they wanted to be better informed to vote in European elections, with hints of turning the European Union into a democratic “nation” (unified) state (pages 15 and 27-32 plus 40-41).

Necessary impetus

After the three resolutions on EU reform from the European Parliament, the analysis contained in the European Commission’s White Paper on the Future of Europe and the five reflection papers plus the roadmap offered by president Jean-Claude Juncker on the State of the Union 2017 web page, as well as the eloquent Initiative pour l’Europe pep talk given by the French president Emmanuel Macron, the citizens of the European Union have enough access to the Whys? of the European project to provide the union of heads of state or government with necessary impetus for a new narrative based on democratic government and powers commensurate to the challenges.

Ralf Grahn

European Council: Impetus for European disintegration?

The European Council meets Thursday and Friday (28-29 October 2010), but two days ahead of the meeting of the heads of state or government of the EU member states the public information appears poorly structured and incomplete in the light of the published press releases and the old draft agenda.

Yesterday president Herman Van Rompuy defended the proposals of the Task force on economic governance in a speech in Brussels. A few days earlier Van Rompuy had sent a letter to members of the European Council, with the Task force report published 21 October 2010. There is a fact sheet dated the same day.

Otherwise, there was little of substance from the European Council or the Council this morning.


Institutions

Van Rompuy has rejected the perception that the European Council meetings are summits. He has underlined the European Council as an institution of the European Union

However, for the citizens of the EU, little resembles an institution deliberating public affairs transparently and accountably. What we see from the outside looks like a summit of the leaders, by the leaders, and for the leaders.

It is unclear if Van Rompuy even wants the European Council to evolve institutionally, or if he prefers to nurture a high level workshop in the (vain?) hope of creating an esprit de corps strong enough to overcome great obstacles.

There is also a lack of connection between the conclusions customarily published after (not before) the meeting and the real discussions taking place.


(Wo)men

Not even an EU summit seems to be enough. French president Nicolas Sarkozy and German chancellor Angela Merkel short-circuited the European Union, by making a deal on the stability and growth pact bilaterally. Merkel has certainly antagonised supporters at home and abroad, but her gains look less certain (see for instance Spiegel International in English and Deutsche Welle in German).


(Wo)men and institutions

Jean Monnet is quoted as saying: "Nothing is possible without men; nothing is lasting without institutions."

Naturally, Charles Kupchan was declared to be wrong when he concluded that the EU needs a new generation of leaders who can breathe life into a project that is perilously close to expiring, and that for now, they are nowhere to be found.

What do you think?

Are the current national leaders willing and the European Council as an institution able to provide anything better than top-down impetus for European disintegration?




Ralf Grahn



P.S. Technology is changing politics, says Personal Democracy Forum, which has sent missionaries to the scattered tribes on the Old Continent. Between the great powwows (highly acclaimed), Antonella Napolitano regularly reports to US HQ and the world in general through the Euro Roundups on her blog. One to follow.

Despite national and linguistic borders there is a European online public space of sorts. You can find the new posts from 680 Euroblogs on multilingual Bloggingportal.eu.

Lisbon Treaty & European Council: Tasks and powers

Arguably the European Council already is the politically most powerful (influential) body of the European Union. Formally the Lisbon Treaty would retain the description of the European Council’s general tasks almost as they are, but the heads of state or government have increasingly taken over the leading role from the Community institutions. The Treaty of Lisbon would see the European Council among the EU institutions in a formal sense as well (Article 13 TEU).

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General tasks

In the consolidated Treaty of Lisbon, Article 15(1) of the Treaty on European Union (TEU), replaces the first paragraph of the current Article 4 TEU. In the amending treaty, the general political guidelines become the general political directions and priorities. The clarification is added that the European Council does not exercise legislative functions (but it comes awfully close) (OJEU 9.5.2008 C 115/23):


1. The European Council shall provide the Union with the necessary impetus for its development and shall define the general political directions and priorities thereof. It shall not exercise legislative functions.


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Role of European Council

Paul Craig and Gráinne de Búrca describe the role of the European Council in a few well chosen sentences (with added explanations and examples):

• The European Council is central to the very development of the Community and Union itself.
• The European Council will often confirm important changes in the institutional structure of the Community.
• The European Council can provide the focus for significant constitutional initiatives that affect the operation of the Community and Union.
• The European Council will frequently consider the state of the European economy as a whole.
• Conflict resolution is another issue addressed by the European Council.
• The European Council plays a role in the initiation or development of particular policy strategies.
• The European is also central in external relations.
• The European Council will also consider new accessions to the Community.

(Source: Paul Craig and Gráinne de Búrca: EU Law ─ Text, Cases, and Materials; pages 56 to 57; Fourth edition, Oxford University Press)


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Communication: Presidency Conclusions


The European Council communicates its political guidelines through Presidency Conclusions, issued at the end of each meeting.

The next ones are expected tomorrow, after the spring European Council.

The European Council does not have the Rules of Procedure necessary according to the Lisbon Treaty (one of the implementing tasks to prepare), but the General Secretariat of the Council has published Rules for the organisation of the European Council (January 2007):



Conclusions

12. The conclusions, which shall be as concise as possible, shall set out policy guidelines and decisions reached by the European Council, placing them briefly in their context and indicating the stages of the procedure to follow on from them.

13. An outline of the conclusions shall be distributed on the day of the European Council meeting in good time for the start of proceedings. The outline shall distinguish clearly between those parts of the text which have previously been approved and which are not in principle subject to discussion and those parts of the text which the European Council is to discuss with a view to reaching final conclusions at the meeting.


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In addition, the European Council reports to the European Parliament.


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Comments

Naturally, being central to includes the limits and limitations imposed by the European Council and by its decision making mostly based on unanimity or consensus.

The European Council is essentially free to set its own agenda, when it acts outside the specific decisions mandated by the treaties. It chooses independently how it deals with the political (non-mandatory) input from the Community (Commission) and intergovernmental (Council) feeding mechanisms. Thereby it becomes the most intergovernmental body of the European Union, sometimes concluding intergovernmental agreements outside the institutional framework, but with direct bearing on it.

On the other hand, most of the formal decisions are still taken by the ‘Community’ institutions.

Since the formal description of the general tasks of the European Council remain almost unchanged under the Treaty of Lisbon, most reports and comments on the amending treaty have concentrated on the obvious changes (President, High Representative, Presidential relations), while the incremental rise of the body have gone almost without remarks.



Ralf Grahn

European Council: Tasks

The current Article 4 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) uses a sweeping formula to describe the tasks of the European Council (OJEU 29.12.2006 C 321 E/12):


Article 4 TEU

The European Council shall provide the Union with the necessary impetus for its development and shall define the general political guidelines thereof.


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General tasks

Impetus and general political guidelines cover all areas crucial for the development of the European Union. Without being an institution in the formal sense, the European Council is arguably the most important body setting the course for the European Union.

Its conclusions have set treaty reforms and other major developments in motion, but it also sets the limits to what the EU can achieve, taking into account the severe restrictions caused by consensus (unanimous) decision making.

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Specific tasks

Besides the general guidelines there are some provisions on specific tasks for the European Council.

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Reporting

According to the third paragraph of Article 4 TEU the European Council reports to the European Parliament after each meeting and annually:

The European Council shall submit to the European Parliament a report after each of its meetings and a yearly written report on the progress achieved by the Union.


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Meeting report

The Presidency Conclusions issued at the end of each European Council are the main instrument to communicate the results, but a livelier version is offered when the member state holding the Council Presidency reports to the European Parliament.

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Annual report

Subsidiarity and proportionality

According to the Protocol (No 30) on the application of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality (1997) the Commission has an obligation to report annually on the application of Article 5 TEC. According to point 10 the European Council shall take account of the Commission report within the report on the progress achieved by the Union which it is required to submit to the European Parliament in accordance with Article 4 of the Treaty on European Union.

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CFSP and CSDP

The intergovernmental European Council makes the crucial decisions pertaining to the common foreign and security policy (CFSP), including the common security and defence policy (CSDP), according to Article 13(1) and (2) TEU:

1. The European Council shall define the principles of and general guidelines for the common foreign and security policy, including for matters with defence implications.

2. The European Council shall decide on common strategies to be implemented by the Union in areas where the Member States have important interests in common.

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European defence

If and when the progressive development of a common defence policy leads to a common (European) defence, the decision is taken by the European Council, according to Article 17(1) TEU:

1. The common foreign and security policy shall include all questions relating to the security of the Union, including the progressive framing of a common defence policy, which might lead to a common defence, should the European Council so decide. It shall in that case recommend to the Member States the adoption of such a decision in accordance with their respective constitutional requirements.

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CFSP referral to the European Council

The decisions under Title V on the common foreign and security policy are basically taken unanimously by the Council, but with the possibility for a member state to abstain (Article 23(1) TEU).

Where the treaty foresees a decision by qualified majority, an opposing member state can use the so called emergency brake on grounds of important reasons of national policy. It must state its reasons and request that the matter be referred to the European Council for decision by unanimity (Article 23(2) TEU):

2. By derogation from the provisions of paragraph 1, the Council shall act by qualified majority:

— when adopting joint actions, common positions or taking any other decision on the basis of a common strategy,

— when adopting any decision implementing a joint action or a common position,

— when appointing a special representative in accordance with Article 18(5).
If a member of the Council declares that, for important and stated reasons of national policy, it intends to oppose the adoption of a decision to be taken by qualified majority, a vote shall not be taken. The Council may, acting by a qualified majority, request that the matter be referred to the European Council for decision by unanimity.

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Enhanced cooperation in criminal matters

A referral to the European Council is possible with regard to a decision to establish enhanced cooperation in an area of police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters (Title VI). The detour delays but does not stop the decision, if the requirements are fulfilled (Article 40a(2) TEU):

A member of the Council may request that the matter be referred to the European Council. After that matter has been raised before the European Council, the Council may act in accordance with the first subparagraph of this paragraph.


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Enhanced cooperation generally

Enhanced cooperation between member states in an area referred to in the Treaty establishing the European Community can be referred to the European Council, but it does not stop the pioneering group from moving ahead after the discussion (Article 11(2) TEC):


A member of the Council may request that the matter be referred to the European Council. After that matter has been raised before the European Council, the Council may act in accordance with the first subparagraph of this paragraph.


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Broad economic policy guidelines

The European Council formulates conclusions on the broad economic policy guidelines (BEPGs), according to Article 99(2) TEC.

The spring (March) European Council is traditionally the venue for economic policy and reform, including the BEPGs and the Lisbon Agenda for Growth and Jobs.

In a union with a (partly) common currency, but with national fiscal and economic policies, the European Council meeting starting tomorrow 18 March 2009 has its plate full in the middle of the serious financial crisis and economic recession.

This time the conclusions would have to be ground-breaking, if the European Council wants to turn the tide:

2. The Council shall, acting by a qualified majority on a recommendation from the Commission, formulate a draft for the broad guidelines of the economic policies of the Member States and of the Community, and shall report its findings to the European Council.

The European Council shall, acting on the basis of the report from the Council, discuss a conclusion on the broad guidelines of the economic policies of the Member States and of the Community.

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ECB reporting

Article 113(3) TEC adds the European Council to the addressees of reporting by the European Central Bank (ECB), almost as an afterthought:

3. The ECB shall address an annual report on the activities of the ESCB and on the monetary policy of both the previous and current year to the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission, and also to the European Council. The President of the ECB shall present this report to the Council and to the European Parliament, which may hold a general debate on that basis.


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Joint employment report

The European Council adopts conclusions (during its spring meeting) on the joint employment report by the Council and the Commission, according to Article 128(1) TEC:

1. The European Council shall each year consider the employment situation in the Community
and adopt conclusions thereon, on the basis of a joint annual report by the Council and the
Commission.


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Conclusion

The European Council has set in motion the major developments of the European Union during the last decades, but the construction is plagued by inadequate rules, highlighted by the recession.

Given that, what can we expect from the next two days?


Ralf Grahn

EU Treaty of Lisbon: European Council

If the European Union is a ship, the European Council represents the shipowners. The existing Treaty on European Union (TEU; latest consolidated version OJ 29.12.2006, C 321 E) Article 4 presents the tasks, the membership and the reporting of the European Council, without formally making it one of the EU institutions:

“Article 4

The European Council shall provide the Union with the necessary impetus for its development and shall define the general political guidelines thereof.

The European Council shall bring together the Heads of State or Government of the Member States and the President of the Commission. They shall be assisted by the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the Member States and by a Member of the Commission. The European Council shall meet at least twice a year, under the chairmanship of the Head of State or Government of the Member State which holds the Presidency of the Council.

The European Council shall submit to the European Parliament a report after each of its meetings and a yearly written report on the progress achieved by the Union.”

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The Convention included the European Council among the institutions and proposed two Articles. The first one, I-20, reiterated the present tasks of the European Council, but clarified that it does not exercise legislative functions. The basic membership (Heads of State or Government) was the same, but the new chairman (President) was mentioned. The Ministers for Foreign Affairs would have lost their membership; their participation would have become optional. This was intended to bring back something of the informal beginnings as “fireside chats” which were becoming impossible with more than fifty participants in an enlarged Union.

The European Council would have met every three months. Extraordinary meetings would have been possible. Decisions would have been made by consensus, if the Constitution did not provide otherwise. The difference between “consensus” and “unanimity” was not elaborated.

The second provision proposed by the Convention, Article I-21, concerned the new semi-permanent President of the European Council, elected for two and a half years (renewable once) and replacing the chairmanship of the current six month Presidency of the Council. This was a victory for those who wanted the European Council to steer a clearer course and to safeguard continuity in action. One of the innovations in this direction was that the President could not hold a national office at the same time. (On the other hand, uniting the offices of President of the European Council and of the Commission remained a possibility.)

The Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (OJ 16.12.2004, C 310) took on board most of the proposals made by the Convention, in Artcles I-21 and I-22. The national Ministers for Foreign Affairs, whose participation was becoming optional, lost their monopoly to participate if ministers were needed. For instance, the ministers representing the member states in the evolving General Affairs Council, or the Ministers for Finance or the Economy could have participated depending on the theme of the meeting. (The spring European Council, with the economic reforms and the Lisbon strategy on the agenda could offer an example, as well as future meetings dedicated to the area of freedom, security and justice.)

The intergovernmental conference (IGC 2007) decided to merge two Articles into one, Article 9b. There are minor differences. In Article 9b(2) the “Union Minister for Foreign Affairs” has become the “High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy”. In Article 9b(3) the quarterly meetings have become somewhat more flexible: meetings twice every six months. Otherwise, the changes are minimal compared to the Constitutional Treaty.

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Like all institutions, the European Council is reminded of the “common good”: The Union shall have an institutional framework which shall aim to promote its values, advance its objectives, serve its interests, those of its citizens and those of the Member States, and ensure the consistency, effectiveness and continuity of its policies and actions. Article 9(1) TEU.

The wording follows the structure of the amended TEU and advances more or less in the same order from values to objectives and further to the interests of the citizens of the Union and of its Member States.

Consistency, effectiveness and continuity are mentioned as essential guidelines for decision making.

Is this shocking? Every successful organisation needs a modicum of team play. Even if the members of the European Council represent the particular interests of the Member States all of the time, these national leaders have to make the effort to find the common interests that bind them together, at least for about eight days yearly.

Without the strategic direction given by the European Council, the European Union would come to nought.

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The crucial reform of the Lisbon Treaty concerning the European Council, in addition to formal status as an institution, is the semi-permanent President.

He or she shall chair the meetings and drive forward the work of the European Council. The President ensures the preparation and continuity of its work and tries to facilitate cohesion and consensus. The President takes over the reporting to the European Parliament, as well. The President represents the Union “at his level and in that capacity” on issues concerning the foreign and security policy of the European Union.

Gone will be the days when an active President or Prime Minister of a Member State had to juggle his national obligations with the task to drive forward the European Council and to represent it both substantially and ceremonially.

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The Treaty of Lisbon creates a demanding square between the new President of the European Council, the partly new “double-hatted” High Representative/Vice President of the Commission, the existing President of the European Commission and the somewhat devalued rotating Presidency of the Council, in charge of the General Affairs Council and the ‘ordinary’ Council formations (if separate persons head the European Council and the Commission).

On the whole, the Lisbon Treaty seems to strengthen the intergovernmental traits of the European Union. The President of the European Council is the potential new star, firmly embedded in an intergovernmental setting, and it looks more probable that the High Representative is going to extend the power of the Council into the Commission, than the other way around.

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Much will depend on the choice of persons and their capacity to interact. Despite the bland wording of joint Declaration (number 6) on Article 9 B(5) and (6), Article 9 D (6) and (7) and Article 9 E of the Treaty on European Union, the jockeying for positions can be expected to be intense. The Protocol says:

“In choosing the persons called upon to hold the offices of President of the European Council, President of the Commission and High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, due account is to be taken of the need to respect the geographical and demographic diversity of the Union and its Member States.”

Taken at face value, the “geographical and demographic diversity” of the EU and its Member States refer to the map and population size, but in reality the political aspects are preponderant. Should the persons to be chosen represent the values of the integrationist core or halfway houses outside the Eurozone, the Schengen area, the Charter of Fundamental Rights and readiness to promote a common defence based on dual EU and NATO membership?

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The Treaty of Lisbon (OJ 17.12.2007, C 306) inserts an Article 9b.

Article 9b


1. The European Council shall provide the Union with the necessary impetus for its development and shall define the general political directions and priorities thereof. It shall not exercise legislative functions.

2. The European Council shall consist of the Heads of State or Government of the Member States, together with its President and the President of the Commission. The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy shall take part in its work.

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.

4. Except where the Treaties provide otherwise, decisions of the European Council shall be taken by consensus.

5. The European Council shall elect its President, by a qualified majority, for a term of two and a half years, renewable once. In the event of an impediment or serious misconduct, the European Council can end the President's term of office in accordance with the same procedure.

6. The President of the European Council:

(a) shall chair it and drive forward its work;

(b) shall ensure the preparation and continuity of the work of the European Council in cooperation with the President of the Commission, and on the basis of the work of the General Affairs Council;

(c) shall endeavour to facilitate cohesion and consensus within the European Council;

(d) shall present a report to the European Parliament after each of the meetings of the European Council.

The President of the European Council shall, at his level and in that capacity, ensure the external representation of the Union on issues concerning its common foreign and security policy, without prejudice to the powers of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

The President of the European Council shall not hold a national office.

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In my next instalment I turn to the Council.


Ralf Grahn