Tuesday

19th Mar 2024

Germany gives ear to Poland in 'Reform Treaty' talks

Germany has made a concession towards Poland by mentioning Warsaw's wish to have a debate on the voting system in its latest treaty proposal paper – a document that officials spent five hours discussing on Tuesday evening.

On the eve on the EU leaders gathering in Brussels, the German presidency circulated an 11-page document saying the bloc aims at establishing a "Reform Treaty," which would consist of the amended Treaty on the European Union and the Treaty Establishing the European Community.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

  • The voting issue is mentioned in a footnote in the latest paper (Photo: European Council)

According to sources present at the talks, while there is "general consensus" among member states that the reform package will avoid state-like terminology such as the "constitution" and "foreign minister," strong differences remain on the treaty's substance.

The meeting of the 27 teams of sherpas - EU member state negotiators – showed there are still divisions in six areas - the Charter of Fundamental Rights, primacy of EU law over national law, the transfer of power between the EU and member states, common foreign and security policy, the role of the national parliaments and the voting system.

The Charter of Fundamental Rights, listing citizens' social and civil rights, prompted the hottest debate last night, with strong arguments flying from both camps. The German Presidency has suggested there should be only a reference to the charter in the new reform package, but the UK continues to oppose it becoming a legally binding document.

Similarly, Berlin has suggested dropping from the treaty the controversial line stating that EU law has primacy over national laws, and instead putting it in a separate declaration, which would accompany the treaty. But some EU capitals are not yet ready to accept the watered-down compromise.

Meanwhile, national parliaments are likely to secure a bigger say when it comes to legislation put forward by the European Commission. Under the German compromise proposal, the EU's executive body would be more bound to deal with the concerns of assemblies, if one third of them disagree.

Another controversial issue is the balance of power between the EU and its member states. The Czech Republic is demanding a "closed" or explicit list of the so-called shared competencies and that there be a strengthening of the "two-way flexible approach," allowing the transfer of power both ways.

In addition, the UK indicated it wants to extend its opt-in mechanism to the entire area of freedom, security and justice, which would give London the possibility not to participate in any fields such as immigration, asylum, police or judicial cooperation.

The UK is also fighting for changes to the provisions on common foreign and security policy.

Voting system

Having caused deep anger in Poland by not mentioning the voting system as a point of discussion in its recent treaty paper, circulated at the end of last week, Germany has now made a concession.

In a footnote, it mentions that two delegations are prepared to open this issue during the upcoming high level talks.

The paper does not name the two capitals – although it is an apparent reference to Polish and Czech demands to abandon the double majority system in the original EU constitution and instead introduce a mechanism favouring medium and small-size states.

According to sources, the wording does not change the fact that there is no will on the side of the German presidency or the rest of the club to open up what is seen as a Pandora Box by entering the tricky area of vote distribution.

However, the German voting move appears to have prompted a softening in Warsaw's stance, as well.

Polish prime minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski told Germany's Bild newspaper that Poland's wish for a voting system based on the square root of populations does not have to mean a stalemate in the discussions.

"At the moment we just want a debate on the voting system to be accepted," he said.

Meanwhile, Polish negotiators on Tuesday night indicated that they are also open to other voting systems and not just the square root based models so long as the democratic principle behind the square root idea is upheld.

Finnish PM: Russia preparing for 'long conflict with West'

Finland, which shares a border with Russia, has cautioned about the danger of a Russian attack in coming years. Russia is not "invincible" but "self-satisfaction is no longer an option," Finnish prime minister Petteri Orpo said.

EU Commission proposes opening Bosnia accession talks

Eight years on, the EU Commission is to recommend on Tuesday that member states open accession talks with Bosnia and Herzegovina after the country took "impressive steps" to meet the bloc's standards, Ursula von der Leyen said.

Opinion

How the EU can raise its game in the Middle East

Could the EU repair its reputation and credibility by taking action on Gaza? EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell, Spain, Belgium and Ireland, have worked hard to repair the damage, but have faced political headwinds due to internal divisions.

Latest News

  1. Borrell: 'Israel provoking famine', urges more aid access
  2. Europol: Israel-Gaza galvanising Jihadist recruitment in Europe
  3. EU to agree Israeli-settler blacklist, Borrell says
  4. EU ministers keen to use Russian profits for Ukraine ammo
  5. Call to change EIB defence spending rules hits scepticism
  6. Potential legal avenues to prosecute Navalny's killers
  7. EU summit, Gaza, Ukraine, reforms in focus this WEEK
  8. The present and future dystopia of political micro-targeting ads

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  2. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries
  3. European Citizen's InitiativeThe European Commission launches the ‘ImagineEU’ competition for secondary school students in the EU.
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  5. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  6. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us