Madam, - Breda O'Brien, with her colleagues on the board of Studies, is to be congratulated on last week's conference on the Future of Europe which produced excellent papers and focused and informative discussions. Concentration on the substance of issues rather than on divisive arguments about the Convention or the Constitution was welcome.
The wide-ranging discussion on aspects of European social policy and the Lisbon Agenda demonstrated clearly that the EU, far from being Breda O'Brien's "top-heavy monstrosity" (Opinion, October 1st), is a complex political entity in which there is a continual and compelling contest between stated values and objectives, and day-to-day political realities.
It also highlighted a key element in any consideration of the social dimension of the EU - the insistence of member-states that much social policy must remain within the control of national capitals. Facile attacks on Brussels on failures in social policy are misdirected since the Union can act only where member states confer the necessary powers.
In her paper, Brigid Laffan argued that an EU with the power to enforce the policies demanded by some speakers could be seen as the "superstate" against which many of them campaign.
The fact is that European social policy is a subject which, more than most, reflects the diversity of attitudes and traditions in the member-states. - Yours, etc,
TONY BROWN, Raheny, Dublin 5.