A lively interview with the President of the European Commission, Mr Romano Prodi, in this newspaper today, brings home the issues at stake in the EU Inter-Governmental Conference set to conclude at Nice this weekend. They are reinforced by the trenchant views expressed by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen. Agreements reached will be crucial in determining how effectively the EU deals with the forthcoming enlargement that will nearly double its membership. They will also alter the balance between existing members in the Commission and the Council of Ministers as regards representation, voting rights and methods. This will raise important questions of legitimacy and accessibility.
Mr Prodi argues that Ireland has gained enormously from membership of the EU - "the greatest event in your history" - and chides those who have recently suggested that Ireland is closer to Boston than Berlin. Even though these sentiments - expressed variously by Ms Sile de Valera and Ms Mary Harney - were not endorsed by the Government, Mr Prodi's comments show that our EU partners were alert to them at this stage in our development.
Mr Prodi supports the Government's view that each member-state should continue to nominate a Commissioner; he is reassuring about the use of reinforced co-operation among smaller groups of member-states to handle certain issues, saying that should not lead to a two-tier system; and he believes Ireland's military neutrality is not endangered by the new rapid Reaction Force to be endorsed at Nice.
Mr Cowen insisted yesterday that Ireland will not agree to qualified majority voting on taxation, as sought by the Commission and other member-states. He says others support this position and rejects the suggestion that unanimity on fiscal matters could imperil the EU's capacity to deal with enlargement or protect the single market. But an extension of such voting is undoubtedly required in a much larger Union. Adjusting to those new realities will not be completely accomplished at Nice, assuming a treaty is agreed there. Another, more ambitious agenda, concerning the overall political and constitutional shape of the EU system, will almost certainly be required in several years' time.
Mr Cowen is reluctant to have that specified at Nice and would prefer to see the debate shaped incrementally by the forthcoming Swedish and Belgian EU presidencies. Profound questions concerning the proper political balance between nation-states and the EU and their respective competences are involved. Mr Prodi agrees that a new political process will be needed to conduct that debate, not another round of negotiations between diplomats and politicians based on dry legal texts and treaty clauses.
The French EU presidency has left itself little time and scope to reach a package deal at Nice, with so many issues still outstanding. But it was always expected to be a last minute affair and President Chirac and the prime minister, Mr Jospin, have major political incentives to preside over a successful outcome. Whether it is genuinely so, must be judged on the basis that the EU is given a real capacity to double its membership and remain an effective force in European and world affairs, as Mr Prodi insists.