EU birthday to mark 'new phase'
Pastor Dale Morgan
*EU birthday to mark 'new phase'*
European Union leaders are due to meet in Berlin to celebrate the 50th
anniversary of the bloc, which was founded by the 1957 Treaty of Rome.
The summit in Berlin will endorse a statement that will emphasise the
EU's achievements and the challenges ahead.
Chancellor Angela Merkel will use the event to relaunch the debate on
the EU's stalled constitution, rejected by French and Dutch voters in 2005.
Correspondents say it will paper over deep divisions among the 27 EU
members.
"We, the citizens of Europe, have united for the better," the draft
Berlin declaration says, hailing some of the EU's achievements over the
past 50 years, including open borders, the common market and the euro,
and an end to Europe's Cold War divisions.
We are united in our aim of placing the EU on a renewed common basis
before the European Parliament elections in 2009
Berlin Declaration excerpt
The BBC's Oana Lungescu in Berlin says there is no explicit mention of
the most divisive issues; future enlargement to admit Turkey and the
Balkan nations, and the EU constitution.
Just weeks before the French presidential elections, and faced with
stiff opposition from the Czech Republic, Poland and Britain, Chancellor
Merkel has chosen the vaguest of terms, our correspondent says.
"We are united in our aim of placing the EU on a renewed common basis
before the European Parliament elections in 2009," the statement says.
But a poll by a British Euro-sceptic think tank, Open Europe, suggests
that three quarters of Europeans would like a referendum on any new
treaty giving more power to the EU.
'Great achievements'
According to the poll, carried out in all 27 EU countries, 41% of
respondents said the union should have fewer powers and that more
decisions should be taken at a national or local level.
Anniversary coin
This two-euro coin has been minted to mark the 50th anniversary
While the "Berlin Declaration" will cite the euro as one of the great
achievements of the EU, a majority of citizens in the eurozone want to
go back to their old national currencies.
There was majority support for keeping the euro in only six of the 13
euro member countries, according to the poll results.
Respondents' top priorities were to establish clear fixed limits on the
powers of the EU, and to reduce the EU's trade barriers against
developing countries.
According to another poll, conducted in several European countries and
the United States, most people believe the EU will still be around in 50
years from now, but expanded to Turkey and even Russia.
However, less than one third of those polled think trans-Atlantic
relations will be much better in 2057.