John Palmer (London, EPC): Shakespeare might have described the EU summit meeting in Brussels as "Much Ado about Rather Little." But without the new treaty the Union would have been incapable of facing immediate global challenges. Most important, it strengthens the capacity of the EU to pursue a more independent foreign and security policy. Capacity is one thing: whether or not the political will exists is another.
None of the changes provide the slightest justification for a referendum in Britain to approve them nor involve any serious change to what passes for a British constitution. The overhyped theatricality surrounding the negotiations illustrates the continuing incapacity of Britain’s leaders to come to terms with the supra-national politics needed for effective governance of globalisation. The Blair/Brown campaign to exclude the British people from the legal provisions of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights (opens as pdf) should be a national embarrassment rather than being seen as a ‘victory’. Among the 27 EU countries only the British are now "protected" from the legal scrutiny of the European Court of Justice if UK state authorities should in future violate Charter provisions which range from a ban on torture and arbitrary arrest to the rights of working people to defend their interests through strike action. Does Charles Grant think this is a good thing? Most of the other "opt out" concessions won by Blair and Brown (working in tandem by telephone) are pathetic. In the struggle against cross border crime and terrorism, British ministers frequently demand stronger and more united action by the EU as a whole. Now they will feel no obligation to be bound by what is decided. What kind of ‘leadership’ is this?
Charles Grant is right that what matters now is for the EU to get to work on issues that only Europe as a whole can tackle. The list is long, but most urgent is for Europeans to speak and act with far greater independence in the desperate search to avoid utter catastrophe in the Middle East. Indeed, a more self confident assertion of its independence in foreign policy would do a great deal to strengthen popular support for continuing European integration
