Translated material
The European Union is gaining weight
Russia will be the first to test the innovations
The European Union has taken a major step towards ending the protracted crisis. On the night of Friday, October 19 in Lisbon, the leaders of 27 countries approved a draft treaty designed to replace a single constitution , on the text of which EU members have not agreed. The agreement necessary to govern the European Union will be signed by heads of state on December 13. But even if successfully ratified by local parliaments, it will come into force no earlier than June 2009.The leaders of the European Union are trying to ensure that in each country the text of the treaty is discussed by parliaments, and not by national referendums. Let us recall that the draft of a unified constitution, now written off, was defeated two years ago precisely in referendums - in France and the Netherlands.
The treaty is freed from the political pathos present in the draft constitution and the solemn details hinting at a European “superstate”, a federation. But the goal is the same: to give more weight to the world's most powerful economic power.
The EU will have a president elected by the top officials of the states for two and a half years. French President Nicolas Sarkozy sees the current Prime Minister of Luxembourg Jean-Claude Juncker as the first in this post, and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown sees his predecessor Tony Blair as the first to take this post.
Decisions in the EU Council will be made by a qualified majority, that is, faster than now, when the consensus rule is in effect. However, at the request of Poland, a provision was included in the treaty (and not in the annex) that allows a country that finds itself in the minority in the voting to temporarily freeze the decision of the majority. “Poland got what it wanted,” Polish President Lech Kaczynski is satisfied.
The EU will have a foreign minister. Officially, he will still be called not a minister, but the High Representative for Foreign Policy. But the person holding this post, and this will most likely be the Spaniard Javier Solana, who is now performing almost the same duties, will also receive the post of Deputy Chairman of the European Commission. His powers will be expanded, and he will even manage the EU budget.
“For Russia, a number of organizational innovations are emerging in relations with the EU. So, if now we are dealing with six-month presidencies in the EU, now on the other side of the table from us there will be a chairman elected for two and a half years,” said the permanent representative of Russia under the European Union Vladimir Chizhov. (Portugal is currently presiding over the EU, and Slovenia is presiding over the EU from January 1).
The European Union intends from now on to speak “with one voice” with international partners. Will the EU become a more complex or simpler partner? The first opportunity to find out will be on October 26, when the leadership of the European Union will meet with President Vladimir Putin at the EU-Russia summit in the Portuguese city of Mafra.