The current "big battle" going on in the Convention on the Future of Europe could end in a "messy" compromise over the shape of EU institutions, the Forum on Europe in Dublin Castle was told yesterday.
Dr Kirsty Hughes, from the Centre for European Policy Studies in Brussels, said the convention was "very split" between the larger and smaller member-states. She regretted that there was such a focus on power and where it would be located that accountability and democracy were taking second place.
Institutional issues were last discussed at the Convention in January, and were not discussed again until a week ago, on the basis of the draft Constitutional Treaty articles issued at the end of April.
She was highly-critical of the Chairman of the Convention, Mr Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, who had handled these matters "extremely badly". It was not entirely deliberate. As well as "conspiracy" there was also "an element of cock-up".
Institutional issues had also been dealt with in "a very narrow way", unlike other issues which had been discussed in detail. Mr Giscard had chosen not to put forward detailed documents on institutional issues. She had been told that documents were, in fact, prepared but these were not discussed by the Praesidium or the Convention itself.
The draft treaty articles were not a compromise and they very much represented the positions and interests of the large member-states. The bargaining was going on behind the scenes and in the corridors, and the political process was being rather badly handled.
The main issue of contention was the idea of a permanent president or chair of the European Council, which she described as "a rather worrying proposal" as it changed the institutional balance, reinforcing the intergovernmental side of the EU and the dominance of the large countries.
Noting that Mr Peter Hain, on behalf of the British government, had claimed that the holder of this new job would not do anything different from the current rotating presidency, she said this was "a little bit disingenuous".
The current job was part-time, since the holder was also a prime minister.
Senator Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fáil) said Mr Giscard "seems to be listening to the smaller states but acting in the interests of the larger states".
Green Party TD Mr John Gormley said: "Giscard says he is listening, but he hasn't heard us".
The Minister of State for European Affairs, Mr Dick Roche told the Forum he had just sent a letter to Mr Giscard, expressing concern that some of the bigger countries were now trying to unravel the Nice Treaty. He said he had been supported in this move by other smaller countries and by Spain.
He said the bigger states were trying to reopen the deal achieved in Nice on representation on the Commission which was seen as the guardian of the interests of the smaller states.
The Minister also criticised proposals to create a longer-term President of the European Council, as there had been no analysis to show that it would be better than the current system.