Select Committee on Foreign Affairs Sixth Report



CONCLUSION

70. As with previous IGCs, the Government has aimed to limit the scope of the current IGC. Regardless of how successful the Government is in achieving this, there is already discussion of the next IGC. Germany's national position paper notes that "more far-reaching concerns for reform are not to be the subject of this Intergovernmental Conference, but could be tabled for future discussions with a clear timetable."[190] Mr Vibert of the European Policy Forum has said that some in the EU believe that there should be a "comprehensive review" of the EU "two years from now or five years from now" meaning that there would be another IGC after the first wave of enlargement, and before the second wave.[191] Mr Prodi, the President of the Commission, has said that if this IGC does not undertake radical reforms, the EU would be required to hold another IGC in a few years, and this would "alienate European citizens even further from" the EU.[192] Lord Brittan has said that he believes that "there would only be justification for having another IGC if it was clear there was going to be a limited number of countries being admitted in the enlargement process now and quite a substantial interval before the next lot were admitted."[193] On the Government side, Mr Sheinwald of the FCO has said that "there will be another IGC at some point, but we are very keen not to have another one before the next enlargement."[194]

71. President Chirac's address to the Bundestag on 27 June was also significant in the context of the next IGC. Its more radical proposals appear to be for the IGC beyond this one—it is, after all, a priority of the French Presidency to complete the current IGC by the Nice Council in December 2000. As discussed above, some of President Chirac's ideas relate to flexibility. He also proposed that the Treaty should be re-organised, that the competences of the different levels of government in Europe should be defined, and asked whether a geographical limit to the EU should be defined. Having resolved these points, a "European constitution" should be produced. While this represents a radical agenda for the next IGC, it is important to see President Chirac's speech in the light of domestic French politics as well as in the context of Franco-German relations. It is also notable that there was no timetable attached to President Chirac's proposals.

72. Even this IGC with a relatively narrow agenda will result in important changes, affecting the basic functioning of the EU. However, Professor Wallace has said that "the problems of poor institutional performance in the European Union to the extent that they are there already are not necessarily made worse by enlargement...non-Treaty reform has got more to offer the process of improving institutional performance than the so-called narrow agenda for the coming IGC."[195] We have focussed in this Report mainly on the "narrow agenda," rather than on non-treaty reform—for example, improving financial control and management in the Commission, reforming staff regulations in the Commission, and improving the efficiency of and coordination within the Council. These issues are also important. We found numerous examples where the EU needed to improve its performance in Kosovo and South Eastern Europe in our recent Kosovo report.[196] These problems were partly procedural, and partly related to substantive policies. In our Report on Enlargement,[197] we also identified a number of areas where the EU needs to reform its policies, such as the Common Agricultural Policy, in order to prepare for enlargement. We look to the Government to ensure that these issues receive the attention they deserve.

73. Whilst the Committee as stated at the outset of this Report has chosen not to make recommendations at this stage in the IGC process, it wishes to receive a response from the Foreign Secretary within the required timescale covering in particular:

    (a)  any update or elaboration of the British position on the various IGC issues as set out in this Report, and

    (b)  information on the British position on any additional IGC issues not covered in this Report about which the Committee should be informed

The Committee will be continuing its IGC inquiry and will make further Reports to the House as necessary.


190   CONFER 4733/00, 30 March 2000. Back

191   QQ43-44, evidence to the Select Committee on the European Union, House of Lords, not yet published. Back

192   Speech to the European Parliament, 10 November 1999. Available on: www.europarl.eu.int/sg/tree/en/default.htm. Back

193   Q118, evidence to the Select Committee on the European Union, House of Lords, not yet published. Back

194   Q58, evidence to the Select Committee on the European Union, House of Lords, not yet published. Back

195   Q159, evidence to the Select Committee on the European Union, House of Lords, not yet published. Back

196   Fourth Report, Session 1999-2000, HC 28, Available on: www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmfaff.htm Back

197  European Union Enlargement, Third Report, Session 1998-99, HC86. Available on: www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmfaff.htm Back


 
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