FRANCE: EXHAUSTED EU LEADERS REACH AGREEMENT ON REFORMS PACKAGE AS LONGEST-EVER EUROPEAN UNION SUMMIT ENDS IN NICE
Record ID:
647210
FRANCE: EXHAUSTED EU LEADERS REACH AGREEMENT ON REFORMS PACKAGE AS LONGEST-EVER EUROPEAN UNION SUMMIT ENDS IN NICE
- Title: FRANCE: EXHAUSTED EU LEADERS REACH AGREEMENT ON REFORMS PACKAGE AS LONGEST-EVER EUROPEAN UNION SUMMIT ENDS IN NICE
- Date: 11th December 2000
- Summary: NICE, FRANCE (DECEMBER 11, 2000) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. TILT UP: NIGHT SKY OUTSIDE CONFERENCE CENTRE, EUROPEAN UNION AND FRENCH FLAGS 0.07 2. PAN: AUSTRIAN CHANCELLOR WOLFGANG SCHUSSEL LEAVING 0.15 3. SV: (SOUNDBITE)(ENGLISH) SWEDISH PRIME MINISTER GORAN PERSSON LEAVING, SAYING: "It's very good. It gives good conditions for future work and fair treatment for all member states. And the applicant states". 0.43 4. MV: (SOUNDBITE)(English) BELGIAN PRIME MINISTER GUY VERHOFSTADT LEAVING SAYING: "Because we want more Europe and not less Europe". 1.08 5. WS: EUROPEAN FLAGS 1.11 6. PAN: BRITISH PRIME MINISTER TONY BLAIR LEAVING / CU: BLAIR IN CAR (2 SHOTS) 1.34 7. HAS: GERMAN CHANCELLOR GERHARD SCHROEDER ENTERING MEDIA CENTRE 1.51 8. MV/SLV/SV: (SOUNDBITE)(German) GERMAN CHANCELLOR GERHARD SCHROEDER AT NEWS CONFERENCE SAYING: "European unity has won." (3 SHOTS) 2.47 9. PUSH IN: FRENCH PRESIDENT JACQUES CHIRAC ARRIVING AT FINAL NEWS CONFERENCE 3.16 10. WIDE OF PRESS CONFERENCE 3.18 11. SV: (SOUNDBITE)(French) FRENCH PRESIDENT JACQUES CHIRAC SAYING: "European construction is an art: The art of the possible. It's the rule of politics as well. Together with the vision and will to dominate events, but also through the art of respecting people. Otherwise it will not work". 3.44 12. SV: MEMBER OF PRESS ASKING QUESTION 3.47 13. SCU: (SOUNDBITE)(Italian) EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT ROMANO PRODI SAYING: "Both myself and (EU reforms commissioner) Michel Barnier were aware of the strong demands of the European parliament. I cannot hide the fact that I am slightly embittered that we were not able to achieve more. We tried to get the best result possible and I think that we can be happy with the result achieved". 4.19 14. WIDE OF CHIRAC, PRODI AND FRENCH PRIME MINISTER LIONEL JOSPIN AT PRESS CONFERENCE 4.21 15. TRACK: BLAIR ENTERING MEDIA CENTRE 4.32 16. SV: (SOUNDBITE)(English) BRITISH PRIME MINISTER TONY BLAIR SAYING: "The whole of this summit has been an exercise for us in getting the best out of Europe for Britain. I believe that we succeeded in doing that. And we have to move ourselves from the traditional mindset that we had up until late 1997 and realise that today it is in Britain's interest to play a leading part in Europe and in the development of Europe". 4.59 17. SLV: NEWS CONFERENCE GIVEN BY BELGIAN PRIME MINISTER GUY VERHOFSTADT 5.03 18. SCU: (SOUNDBITE)(English) VERHOFSTADT SAYING: "I think that I have fought for Europe. That is the first thing that I have done round the table. I have fought for the dignity of the new member states because it is impossible to give them another position in the framework in the weight system than the countries that were already member of this union. And I have also defended the position of the Benelux and the position of the other middle sided countries. There are also middle sized and small countries. I fight for them because it is impossible to work in the European Union where there are three or four big countries that have everything to say". 6.02 19. PAN: LUXEMBOURG PRIME MINISTER JEAN-CLAUDE JUNCKER AT NEWS CONFERENCE 6.08 20. CU: (SOUNDBITE)(English) LUXEMBOURG PRIME MINISTER JEAN-CLAUDE JUNCKER SAYING: "I am quite satisfied with the result that we have achieved today. Better results would have been possible but this result is better than no result. We had the opinion of others that a further extension of qualified majority would have been desirable". 6.42 21. VARIOUS OF TIRED REPORTERS AFTER MARATHON SUMMIT (5 SHOTS) 7.02 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 26th December 2000 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: NICE, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Reuters ID: LVA8HYK0A3CIWDUBAZE8QLHNVWLV
- Story Text: Exhausted European Union leaders have reached an
overall agreement on a package of reforms to decision-making
designed to prepare the 15-nation bloc for a historic
expansion.
The longest summit in European Union history ended with
a hard-fought compromise on Monday (December 11) when leaders
approved reforms to streamline the EU's decision-making before
enlargement almost doubles its size.
Applause broke out in the hall when bleary-eyed leaders of
the 15 member states struck a deal at around 4:15 a.m. (0315
GMT) on day five of the marathon negotiation.
A late-night stand by Belgium, the last to resist what the
smaller states saw as a power grab by the EU's "big boys",
threatened to scuttle the complex deal to reshuffle the votes
of member states on the policy-making Council of Ministers.
But the Belgians finally accepted France's third proposal,
ending a gruelling battle to redraw power lines in the bloc
before the EU takes in up to 12 new members, mostly from
former communist eastern Europe, over the next decade.
"Because we want more Europe and not less Europe," Belgian
Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt said afterwards.
"European construction is an art: The art of the possible.
It's the rule of politics as well. Together with the vision
and will to dominate events, but also through the art of
respecting people. Otherwise it will not work" said French
President Jacques Chirac.
Chirac also said the summit, that crowned France's
much-criticised EU presidency, would go down in European
history as a summit that shaped the Union.
But echoing some of the criticism, European Commission
President Romano Prodi told the same conference: "I cannot
hide from you a certain regret that we did not manage to go
further."
"Both myself and (EU reforms commissioner) Michel Barnier
were aware of the strong demands of the European parliament. I
cannot hide the fact that I am slightly embittered that we
were not able to achieve more. We tried to get the best result
possible and I think that we can be happy with the result
achieved," he said.
While smaller states reluctantly accepted the deal,
Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder voiced satisfaction that
Germany's influence had grown even though it did not win more
Council votes to reflect its larger size since reunification
in 1990.
"Without us highlighting it, Germany's weight has grown,"
he observed. Insisting on more Council votes "would not have
helped Europe (and) would have hurt French-German ties in a
way we simply did not want."
He also said European unity had won.
Relieved the haggling was finally over, most leaders
praised the deal as a workable compromise, even though it fell
far below many of the sweeping reforms that EU leaders first
mooted.
"It's very good. It gives good conditions for future work
and fair treatment for all member states. And the applicant
states," Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson.
"The whole of this summit has been an exercise for us in
getting the best out of Europe for Britain. I believe that we
succeeded in doing that. And we have to move ourselves from
the traditional mindset that we had up until late 1997 and
realise that today it is in Britain's interest to play a
leading part in Europe and in the development of Europe," said
British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker struck a
reflective note, telling journalists: "I am quite satisfied
with the result that we have achieved today. Better results
would have been possible but this result is better than no
result. We had the opinion of others that a further extension
of qualified majority would have been desirable".
There was a subdued reaction on the currency markets, where
the euro eased slightly in Tokyo trading to 0.8830/35 U.S.
dollars. Traders had expected the euro to be hit if Nice
failed to reach a deal.
The main outcome was to increase the weight of the big
four countries -- Germany, Britain, France and Italy -- in
agreeing policy by so-called qualified majority voting (QMV).
The final deal retained the historic voting parity between
France and Germany, traditional motors of European
integration, to give them 29 Council votes each, the same as
Britain and Italy.
The leaders also agreed to reform the EU's executive
Commission -- though only when the bloc grows to 27 members --
after bitter opposition from smaller states to giving up their
lone commissioners on the 20-member Brussels-based body.
The summit identified 29 new areas where member states
would waive their veto rights in favour of qualified majority
voting.
Here too, there was stiff resistance. Britain, backed by
Sweden, Luxembourg and Ireland, convinced leaders to drop
plans to take some decisions on indirect taxation policy and
the fight against tax fraud by majority vote.
France successfully defended the jealously guarded veto it
uses to defend its film industry from Hollywood, while Spain
agreed to give up the veto that assures it hefty regional aid
-- but only in 2007, after it is assured of generous funding
from the next six-year EU budget to be decided in 2006.
At Berlin's request, the leaders agreed to a new
conference in 2004 to define the division of power between
Brussels, member states and regions.
The summit agreed to cap the number of seats on the
European Commission, which now has 20, and have the five big
states each give up their second commissioner in 2005.
Each new member can name one commissioner until the EU
reaches 27 members, after which a permanent cap below that
number would be set and commissioners would be appointed by
rotation among member states.
In the complex voting scheme, the qualified majority was
set at 258 votes out of 342, with 89 votes required for a
blocking minority -- equivalent to three large states and one
small one.
When the EU reaches 27 member states, the blocking
minority will increase to 91 votes, diplomats said.
Any decision taken under treaty provisions on the basis of
a proposal by the executive European Commission requires 258
votes from a simple majority of member states.
All other decisions require 258 votes and at least
two-thirds of member states -- a higher threshold than before.
In addition, any member state can invoke a clause
requiring a check that the coalition supporting a majority
decision represents at least 62 percent of the total EU
population.
That allows Germany and any two other big EU states to
block any decision, even though their weighted votes do not
add up to a blocking minority.
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