EU leaders look ahead after landmark Rome treaty deal*

by Staff Writers
(AFP) Oct 19, 2007

The EU can turn to new priorities such as globalisation after agreeing a
new reformed Rome treaty, its leaders said Friday, but thoughts were
also on the potentially tricky topic of ratification.

Heads of state and government from the 27 member nations wrapped up two
days of talks in Lisbon with wide smiles but bleary-eyed after the
treaty success.

"With this accord Europe has emerged from its institutional crisis,"
Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates told reporters.

The EU constitution scuppered by French and Dutch voters in referendums
in 2005 -- was brokered in the early hours of Friday after overcoming
last-minute Polish and Italian objections.

EU leaders deem the 250-plus page treaty vital because the bloc's rule
book has not had a serious update since 10 Eastern European countries
joined in May 2004, followed by Bulgaria and Romania in January.

Like the failed constitution, the treaty includes plans for a European
foreign policy supremo and a more permanent president to replace the
current cumbersome rotating six-month presidency system.

It also cuts the size of the European parliament and the number of EU
decisions which would require unanimous support from member states.

However it drops all references to the EU flag or anthem, in attempts to
assuage eurosceptics who see this as another move to a federal European
superstate.

Unlike the constitution the treaty is an amending treaty, not something
which would supercede all existing pacts.

However, the political agreement is not the end of the treaty's
sometimes stormy passage.

The EU leaders will return to the Portuguese capital on December 13 to
formally sign the text.

After that each of the 27 member states will have a year to ratify it,
if it is to come into force as planned in January 2009.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy wasted no time in saying he hoped the
French parliament would ratify the deal in December, just after it is
signed.

Most other countries will be hoping to follow suit, getting the treaty
formally adopted via the parliamentary route rather than putting it to
the sort of unpredictable referendums which torpedoed the constitution
it was drawn up to replace.

Only Ireland is constitutionally bound to hold a referendum but others,
Britain especially, have growing pro-referendum lobbies.

"May or June is my preference," Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern said
after the talks here.

However the European leaders stressed that the treaty deal will allow
the EU to concentrate on many pressing issues.

"We've agreed that there is to be a declaration of new priorities"
before the next EU summit in December, said British Prime Minister
Gordon Brown, so that Europe can "move away from the institutional
inward-looking debate of the past to deal with the full agenda of
globalisation that faces us."

Britain also had many reservations about the treaty, but obtained
opt-outs in key areas at the last EU summit in June.

Having successfully concluded the treaty deal on the first day of their
Lisbon talks, the summiteers were able to concentrate on some wider
questions which they hope to more fully embrace, with day two devoted
largely to global warming and globalisation.

European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso summed up the delicate
balancing act involved in spreading the gospel of globalisation.

"We must protect the citizens without being protective. We should be
open without being naive. We should not close our doors, rather we
should encourage others to open theirs," he said.

However the overwhelming sentiment emanating from the summit was that
the door had been closed on years of crisis and institutional malaise
with the advent of the Lisbon treaty.

earlier related report:

*No EU reforms needed for years, following treaty deal, say leaders*

EU leaders on Friday vowed to concentrate their efforts on the real
issues facing Europe and the world, stressing that no more institutional
changes are required for years after agreeing a new reform treaty.

"We've agreed that there is to be a declaration of new priorities"
before the next EU summit in December, said British Prime Minister
Gordon Brown, so that Europe can "move away from the institutional
inward-looking debate of the past to deal with the full agenda of
globalisation that faces us."

European heads of state and government reached agreement on the 'Lisbon
Treaty', drawn up to oil the wheels of the EU's creaking institutions,
in the early hours of Friday morning after making concessions to the
last hold-outs Poland and Italy, largely on voting systems and rights.

Polish President Lech Kaczynski left the Lisbon summit saying he agreed
with Brown that there should be no new EU institutional reform for the
next 10 years.

"We now need 10 years to see how the institutions are functioning before
occupying ourselves with future reforms" Kaczynski told reporters,
before returning to Poland which will hold legislative elections on Sunday.

However, some more EU navel-gazing is required, as the 27 member states
must individually ratify the treaty before it can come into force, in
January 2009 if things go to plan.

"I think that now we have a consensus that Europe should not go on
looking inwards but should look outwards," European Commission chief
Jose Manuel Barroso told a press conference after the two-day summit ended.

The EU leaders will return to the Portuguese capital on December 13 to
formally sign the 250-plus page document.

Having successfully concluded the treaty deal on the first day of their
Lisbon talks, the summiteers were able to concentrate on some pressing
wider issues which they hope to more fully embrace, with day two devoted
largely to global warming and globalisation.

Barroso summed up the delicate balancing act involved in spreading the
gospel of globalisation.

"We must protect the citizens without being protective. We should be
open without being naive. We should not close our doors, rather we
should encourage others to open theirs," he said.

However the overwhelming sentiment emanating from the summit was that
the door had been closed on years of crisis and institutional malaise
with the advent of the Lisbon treaty.