Rifts emerge over EU's 50th birthday declaration
Political divisions are emerging over the EU's 50th birthday declaration, with the European Commission set to propose an explicit reference to the need for a constitutional solution and with Germany pushing a social agenda.
The first consultations by the German EU presidency on the so-called Berlin declaration - to be signed in the German capital by EU leaders and institutions on 25 March - are exposing strongly contrasting views on the content and the political role of the document.
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The European Commission, which first proposed the idea for the declaration last year, views the occasion as a first step of breaking the EU's institutional deadlock produced by the 2005 "no" votes against the EU constitution in France and the Netherlands.
The college of commissioners, which discussed the matter this week, believes that "the text should make the case for giving the EU the tools to deliver" and that it should also "include a commitment by member states on the institutional way forward," commission officials said.
Brussels' proposal to insert an explicit reference to the constitutional issue into the Berlin declaration adds up to the top-five topics for the declaration recently listed by commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso - solidarity, accountability, security of European citizens, promoting European values in the world and the fight against climate change.
Language on the constitution is however opposed by the UK and the Netherlands, which dislike the idea of a fast-moving constitutional revival process.
Looking back or ahead ?
UK Europe minister Geoff Hoon when asked about a constitutional reference told EUobserver last week that the Berlin declaration should "not be a shopping list of what to do this year and what to do next year."
London instead proposes using the Berlin declaration - which will mark the 50th anniversary of the 1957 Treaty of Rome laying the foundation for the current EU - to also commemorate the EU's succesful enlargement to the East after the fall of communism.
"In a way this is about looking back, not forward," a UK diplomat said, putting London at odds with not only the commission, but also with France which wants a "forward looking" declaration, according to a French diplomat.
"There is a discussion on whether the text should be focused on the past or look at the future," said one EU diplomat. "We will probably end up somewhere in the middle."
Meanwhile the German EU presidency views the declaration as tightly linked to its efforts to revive the EU constitution – but Berlin appears to follow a different strategy than the commission.
Social declaration
German chancellor Angela Merkel hopes to use the declaration to counter fears that the EU lacks a social dimension – a concern believed to have been one major cause of the French "non" to the European Constitution.
"It's about removing fears that the EU is just a community where the aim is to make things easier for companies. We must give greater expression to the social dimension of Europe," German EU affairs secretary Guenther Gloser told Reuters.
A socially-minded Berlin declaration could at a later stage be attached to a newly-styled EU constitution and make the treaty more attractive to voters in France and elsewhere, diplomats noted.
But Berlin will also have to take into account the full and partly contradictory wishlists of other member states for the declaration - which most EU capitals wants to be both written in simple language and not longer than two pages.
German officials are currently in talks with member states' so-called "sherpas," which are government appointees for confidential talks with Berlin on the EU constitution as well as the birthday declaration.
Christian heritage
The Czech Republic's plans for the document appear to go more in the liberal direction, with sources saying Prague wants to highlight the EU's liberal trade and a reduction of bureaucracy, along with future EU enlargement and the union's stabilising role in the world.
Poland is meanwhile set to reignite the debate on a reference to the union's Christian heritage in the EU constitution - now proposing to include "God" in the anniversary declaration.
"We support chancellor Merkel's proposal for a reference to Christianity in the declaration. We think that is very good and we hope this will be realised," Polish sherpa Marek Cichocki told EUobserver.
Mr Cichocki said the declaration should focus on "values" such as "solidarity between member states."
The document should highlight "the need to be together as a community," he said, but added "of course with a reference to the sovereignty of [the EU's] member states" - reflecting the conservative Polish government's sceptical stance towards deep European integration.