The last day of the EU summit

The program is conducted by Kirill Kobrin. The leader of the European liberal democrats faction in the European Parliament Graham Watson is involved.

Kirill Kobrin: The EU summit ends in Brussels today. Yesterday, the participants failed to resolve the disagreements on the project of the EU constitution, the successor of Romano Prodi, the current head of the EU executive body, the European Commission, was not elected. According to the results of the first day, the summit Bertie Akhern, the Prime Minister of Ireland-the country that presides in the EU-said:

Berty Achaern: The question with the chairman of the European Commission is quite simple - if someone collects the majority of the votes - it will be elected. But so far there is no such candidate.

Kirill Kobrin: In turn, France President Jacques Shirak said that 25 EU countries are close to an agreement on the draft Constitution - the results of yesterday's discussion are relying, according to him, to hope for a compromise. Let me remind you that on December last year, the heads of the EU state failed to agree on the issue of voting in the governing bodies of the Union. A number of countries, in particular, Poland and Spain believe that the voting procedure proposed in the project gives advantages to such members of the European Union as France and Germany. We asked to comment on the main tasks now facing the EU leaders, Graham Watson, the leader of the European Liberal Democrats faction in the European Parliament.

Mr. Watson, how, in your opinion, did the election results in the European Parliament affect the course of the summit in Brussels?

Graham Watson: I think the elections really threw a shadow on the course of the summit-first of all, due to the low turnout of the citizens of European countries. But I hope that this will force governments to make efforts and make a system of power in the European Union closer to people. I think that the majority of deputies of the new composition of the parliament, of course, should come to an agreement regarding the candidacy of the new head of the European Commission, so that the election results will influence in this sense too.

Kirill Kobrin: How do you assess the prospects for the adoption of the European Constitution, can countries involved in disputes because of it mitigate their position?

Graham Watson: Of course, I hope this, but I do not think that this could be the result of the election in the European Parliament. Nevertheless, one thing is obvious - the countries gradually reach consent about the candidate for the post of new chairman of the European Commission and the chance to agree on the draft Constitution becomes much more. I would call the presidents and prime ministers-to accept the entire package of constitutional proposals, approve the candidacy of the chairman of the European Commission and move on.

Kirill Kobrin: Ireland offered a whole package of proposals designed to mitigate disagreements according to the Constitution. How do you think will help to solve the problem?

Graham Watson: I hope yes. The Irish leadership has demonstrated extraordinary diplomatic skills over the past six months. After the EU summit in December, organized by Mr. Berlusconi, the situation around the Constitution seemed quite hopeless; And now, it seems, we can agree, although a lot has yet to be done here. But I think that the question of how many members should be in the commission and how many deputies - in parliament, can be left open so far. If we should now sign an agreement as a whole, then some issues can be returned later.

Kirill Kobrin: The summit in Brussels should also choose the successor Romano Prodi as chairman of the European Commission, several candidates have already been named, which of them do you support?

Graham Watson: I am very glad that we have three excellent and highly qualified liberal candidates: the current chairman of the European Parliament Pat Cox, Danish Prime Minister Fog Rasmussen, Belgian Prime Minister Gihofstadt. The latter, it seems to me, has the greatest support. He is supported by France, Germany and a number of other countries. I think that he has good chances to take this place.

Kirill Kobrin: Great Britain among those countries that confront the plans for reforming the European Commission, for example, she is not going to agree to cancel the veto, why, do you share this position?

Graham Watson: Of course, I do not support this position. I hope my country will be more constructive and will make a greater contribution to the construction of the European Union building. I think this problem is more psychological. We always felt semi -isolated from the continent; In fact, we are part of the continent, we have a common history, culture and even geography. I think the British soon fully realize this, which will positively affect our decisions.

Kirill Kobrin: So what is Britain's eternal struggle for independence from the continent?

Graham Watson: I hope not "eternal". My party is liberal democrats and it is a "pro -European" party. We achieve more and more success in the elections, both to local authorities and in the British and European parliaments. I hope that in the future we will be able to form the British government and change the British approach to this problem.

Kirill Kobrin: Let me remind you that the candidates for the head of the European Commission-in addition to the Ferehofstadt, Cox and Rasmussen-are the Prime Minister of Luxembourg Jean-Claude, the European Commission Antonio Vitorino, Bertie Achaern, and another member of the EU leadership Chris Patten. Patten is supported by the right -centers from the European People's Party, but France, whose applicant, Ferkhofstadt, is opposed to his candidacy. As expected, the decision will be made late in the evening tonight.