TIME EUROPE
May 29, 2000 VOL. 155 NO. 21
VIEWPOINT
The European Conundrum
The economic integration of the E.U. has outstripped the political process
By SERGIO ROMANO
When Joschka Fischer, the German foreign minister, spoke recently at the Humboldt University in Berlin and strongly suggested that the time has come for the European Union to have a political constitution and a directly elected president, somebody hinted that he simply wanted to gain greater personal visibility. It could be true. But he had the courage to say aloud what other European political leaders have been disconsolately whispering, particularly since the euro began losing ground.
Like most of his colleagues, Fischer knows that since the beginning of the '90s European integration has been moving along an anomalous path. Europe has a single market, a single currency, a central bank. No member country can build an airport, decide how much milk can be produced by national cows or call something chocolate without consulting Brussels or conforming to the Commission's guidelines. No important merger or acquisition can proceed unless E.U. competition Commissioner Mario Monti has nodded his approval.
But Europe has no minister for the treasury or the economy to provide the governor of the central bank and the business community with a blueprint for Union policy. The countries which signed the Schengen pact have common borders, but they still treat immigration as a national problem, have different quotas, and do not have a common minister of the interior or of justice. The Union has created a foreign secretary (the former Secretary-General of nato, Javier Solana), but has forgotten to supply him with a diplomatic staff and a clear mandate. The European Parliament can make trouble for the Commission, but in many cases is little more than a debating society.
Most federations, in their formative years, begin by tackling the problem of political institutions and leave money and the market to a later stage. The American Federal Reserve was created when the country already had a President, a parliament, a judiciary, an army and a diplomatic corps. Europe has done exactly the opposite, and has now reached a stage where the amount of economic integration clashes with the lack of political institutions. Without a European government, the euro will have no face or, as Henry Kissinger once said, no telephone number.
Without credible political institutions and a constitutional framework, enlargement will be repeatedly postponed. Candidate countries will get tired of waiting and will look for other solutions to their problems.
Fischer's speech has come at the right moment and will certainly attract a growing consensus. But it will also raise suspicions and fears, particularly from Britain, Denmark and Sweden. The British joined the Community because they could not afford to turn their back on a successful European enterprise, but they did so to slow the process, not to support it. They will try to boycott any attempt to turn the Union into something remotely resembling a federation.
There are other, less explicit, obstacles, the main one being that a European constitution as suggested by Fischer would strike a final blow at the European nation state, and at national political classes. Whatever they say, European governments still consider this possibility a threat. European democracy retains a national dimension. If they want to be re-elected, politicians cannot ignore national wishes and demands, particularly at a time when globalization and new technologies require drastic modernization and raise considerable fears. Many European governments must rely on the support of political forces which are socially conservative and view modernization as a threat to their constituencies. In France, Italy and Sweden, the ruling Social Democrats had to form alliances with communists. In Austria, the Christian Democrats had to strike a deal with the right-wing xenophobic party of Jörg Haider. In Italy, Silvio Berlusconi scored a remarkable success at the recent regional elections because he had once again allied himself with Umberto Bossi's Northern League. Even Chancellor Schr&246;der, although helped by the recent change of heart of the German unions, must proceed with caution. This in itself is not a bad thing. It draws marginal forces into the mainstream of political life. But it also makes governments more hesitant in the implementation of their policies and more reluctant to abandon whatever power they still have to distribute national resources according to political convenience.
This is the contradiction facing Joschka Fischer if he pursues his European agenda. To maximize the advantages of the euro and modernize their welfare states, the countries of the Union need political institutions and a constitutional framework. But what Europe needs is what many Europeans fear. Caught between conflicting demands, governments will try to be good Europeans, but will also want to be re-elected. To get his constitution, Fischer will have to fight two battles: against the British and against his hesitant friends. The second may be more difficult than the first.
Sergio Romano, Italy's Ambassador to Moscow from 1985 to 1989, writes for the Milan daily Corriere della Sera
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May 29, 2000
COVER
Beyond 2000: A New World of Work
EUROPE
Shell-shocked
Angry Dutch residents want answers after a fireworks factory explodes in the middle of their neighborhood
Power Grab
Putin reveals his leadership plans
Rebel Yell
Serb protests against Milosevic's media crackdown kick-start opposition leaders into action
Campaign of Terror
Greece is second only to Colombia in its number of anti-American terrorist attacks
Viewpoint
The E.U. needs a constitutional framework
AFRICA
Ray of Hope
A warlord's capture sparks jubilation in Freetown
BUSINESS
BooHoo.com
A much-hyped dotcom has gone belly up. How many more will follow?
TIME FINANCE
The Pension Problem
As the number of workers to support retirees dwindles, Europe's governments must face a looming financial crisis
Your Money
Rules for planning your retirement
Viewpoint
The early bird can't always expect success
DEPARTMENTS
To Our Readers
World Watch
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