AZG Armenian Daily #112, 18/06/2005

World press

FRANCE RAISES SUMMIT STAKES WITH FEARS ON ENLARGEMENT

Now French add Turkey’s admission to tension over budget and constitution

France opened a third front with Britain on the eve of today’s
European Union summit by publicly voicing grave reservations about
Turkey’s impending membership. The statement yesterday by Dominique
de Villepin, the new French Prime Minister, increased the tension
surrounding a summit that is already engulfed in bitter disputes
over the EU budget and constitution. Britain has insisted enlargement
will be a priority during its EU presidency, which begins next month,
and will proceed on schedule.

With the EU now split over its future direction, Jose Manuel Barroso,
the European Commission President, served warning that unless the
dispute over EU financing was resolved this week “the Union will sink
into a permanent crisis and paralysis”.

But Tony Blair and most other leaders were travelling to Brussels
having all but abandoned hope of agreeing a seven-year budget. Britain
will not surrender its £3 billion annual rebate; France refuses to
consider cuts to agricultural spending.

A last-minute compromise proposed last night by Luxembourg, which
holds the current EU presidency, made only small concessions to
British concerns, and is unlikely to break the deadlock. It no longer
suggested the British rebate should be phased out, but proposed that
it be capped, which would cost Britain about ~@25 billion, without
offering corresponding cuts in agricultural subsidies.

Earlier, Mr. de Villepin told the French parliament that the results
of its referendum on the EU constitution had shown the speed of
enlargement had shaken EU citizens.

“We must take it into account,” he said. Bulgaria and Romania should
be admitted in 2007, but “beyond that we must certainly open a
discussion with our partners on the mode of future enlargements”. He
did not mention Turkey by name but was clearly referring to the poor,
predominantly Muslim country which is due to start membership talks
with the EU on October 3.

In London Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, insisted that the
EU’s commitments to Turkey and other applicant countries were
clear and would be honoured under existing rules, not the stalled
constitution. Senhor Barroso also insisted that Turkey’s membership
talks should proceed.

The only dispute the summit is likely to resolve is over the
constitution. Britain looks certain to prevail in its campaign to kick
the treaty into the long grass. There now seems to be broad consensus
among EU leaders that the ratification process should be put on hold.

Even Germany was stalling last night after President Kohler decided
to withhold his signature, pending the outcome of a legal challenge
in the country’s highest court.

Both the Commission and Luxembourg have come round to the British
position. Señhor Barroso said: “I am not proposing that we abandon
the process of ratification, I am proposing a pause for reflection.”

The about-turn came after an internal European Commission report warned
of a “tsunami” of “no” votes if Britain, Ireland, Poland, Denmark and
the Czech Republic continued with their referendums. Gunter Verheugen,
the Commission Vice-President, said: “The mood has changed everywhere
where referendums are planned. A feeling of discontent that has been
building up for a long time has spilled over.”

Britain was having less success persuading Europe to cut its ~@40
billion (£26.5 billion) farm budget in return for Britain surrendering
its rebate. Jean-Claude Juncker, the Luxembourg Prime Minister
predicted: “I’m pretty sure we won’t get the financial perspectives
[budget] through at this summit.”

By Anthony Browne in Brussels and Philip Webster; The Times/UK,
June 16, 2005

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