Germany to resurrect EU constitution
Pastor Dale Morgan
Germany to resurrect EU constitution*
Matthew Tempest, political correspondent
Friday December 1, 2006
Guardian Unlimited
Germany intends to resurrect the controversial EU constitution by the
end of its six-month stint as EU president next year, its ambassador to
the UK has said - despite hopes in Britain that the "no" votes in France
and the Netherlands had killed off the proposal.
The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, takes over the rotating presidency
of the EU from January 1 next year, and will see the failed
constitution, as well as collapsing talks over Turkey's accession,
worries over Iran and the UK agenda of Africa and climate change in her
in-tray.
In an echo of Tony Blair's dual presidencies last year, Ms Merkel will
also take on the presidency of the G8 group of rich industrialised
nations next year - and yesterday her London ambassador stressed that
Berlin intends to continue Britain's work on climate change and Africa.
Such are the expectations of Ms Merkel, Germany's first female
chancellor and only a year into the job, that ambassador Wolfgang
Ischinger is trying to play down how much might be achieved next year.
"I'm very impressed, sometimes a bit intimidated, by the extremely high
expectation associated with the German presidency," he said.
"People seem to expect that we will perform miracles. We'll do our best
to do that but I'm not sure we can fulfil all these wishes," he told the
Guardian in a podcast interview.
Pointing out that both the EU and G8 will be partially stymied next year
by the French presidential election in May, and the anticipated
departure of Mr Blair by the summer, Mr Ischinger said: "That's life in
politics. You have elections all the time.
"But...the changes that are associated with the presidential election in
France and the changes that have been announced here in the UK certainly
do not make it easier for the presidency in 2007."
Referring to the "constitutional process" rather than the
"constitution", which was rejected in referendums by the French and
Dutch last year, Mr Ischinger expressed hope that the Germans would be
able to put new proposals to streamline Brussels decision-making by the
end of their stint in June.
He said: "Germany remains committed to the constitutional process -
whether you want to call it a constitution or not is, in my view, a
question of presentation. The important thing is the substance of it,
and we believe the substance of it is very important - and remains
important."
The Tories are staunchly opposed to any attempt to bring back the
constitution "through the backdoor".
Although the prime minister finally pledged a referendum on the EU
constitution - unnecessary after the two continental defeats - the
foreign secretary, Margaret Beckett, recently declared the failed treaty
was a "grandiose project". Mr Blair has made it clear some streamlining
of EU rules would be acceptable.
However, any change in the current setup is likely to weaken Britain's
current power of veto.
Mr Ischinger stressed Berlin would be in "listening mode" at the start
of its EU presidency, but added: "We will want all our partners,
including the United Kingdom, to tell us what is possible and desirable.
"And we will figure out if and how it's possible to draw it all together
and hopefully at the end of our presidency make a proposal how to take
the issue forward.
Stressing that the EU constitution in 2005 was only rejected by two
member states, after having been ratified by 15, he added: "My
government believes and continues to believe that a serious effort
should be made not only during the German presidency but during our
succeeding presidencies to identify the room for a consensus solution of
the problem that was created by the fact that the existing paper was
rejected in two of the member states."
Mr Ischinger also revealed that Germany was extremely unhappy to be left
to deal with the troubled accession negotiations between Turkey and the
EU, which are now almost inevitably due to take overshadow Ms Merkel's
own plans for the presidency.
Talks this week between Brussels and Ankara came to a virtual standstill
over Turkey's refusal to open up its ports to Cypriot traffic, in the
long-running dispute over the future of the island.
That dispute will overshadow the entry of two new member states, Romania
and Bulgaria, to the EU club on 1 January 2007.
He said: "I will be very frank and admit that we are not happy having to
deal with it.
"We were hoping very very much that before we even start out presidency
the current difficulties in the EU/Turkey accession negotiations could
be overcome under the very capable leadership of the current Finnish
presidency."
The ambassador called on Turkey to "honour its commitments" under the
Anakara protocol, which calls for recognition of the Greek-Cypriot
administration.
Mr Ischinger praised the recent British government-commissioned report
on the economic consequences of climate change under Nicholas Stern,
adding that Ms Merkel, in the 1990s, was herself Germany's environment
minister under chancellor Helmut Kohl, who helped negotiate the Kyoto
protocols.
"She knows more about these issues than most politicians," he said.