All for one...

Commissioner Viviane Reding is grappling with making the theory of a diverse but united EU a reality, according to Europe Correspondent Ann Cahill

THIS is the European Year of the Citizen. It’s not an easy sell — not many people love the European Union.

The union may have turned a corner, edging painfully away from catastrophe as the future of the euro looks a little more secure, but the fall-out from the depression is not conducive to making the union an object of affection.

Viviane Reding, unique in being a member of the European Commission for the third time, is grappling with making the theory of a diverse but united EU a reality.

Being one of the commission’s vice-presidents and having created massive flexibility in her justice, fundamental rights and citizenship portfolio, has allowed her to cover many aspects of forming a greater EU. Take for instance the ‘town hall’ meetings she begun a few months ago. Popular in the US where presidential candidates meet the citizens, it is not so easy in Europe, given the limits imposed by 21 languages. But she has presided at four such meetings, the most recent taking place in Dublin last week.

“Politics is often top-down in the EU, with politicians making a big speech and that is all, but it is important to reverse this,” said Ms Reding, a former journalist from Luxembourg, who has been 33 years in politics.

The first meeting was in the economic disaster area that is the south of Spain, the second in Austria, the country with the fewest young people unemployed, while the third was in Berlin. “We had very different people, but all saying the same things: Why does Europe not do more?” she said.

In Berlin, for instance, one participant complained about the education system and wanted Brussels to step in and take over. Education is one of those policies that remains a national responsibility, but, Ms Reding said: “What the citizens have in mind is if they have a problem, Europe should fix it. That was the recurring message.”

While many governments would interpret this as a European Commission attempt to grab power, Ms Reding points out the commission is more trusted than national institutions to fix problems according to the latest Euro barometer survey.

But perhaps the biggest lesson is that citizens do not know about treaties and the powers that the EU does or does not have and are not being informed by their national politicians. The issue is how to harness the diversity that is the EU wealth, but which makes common decision-making difficult. The complexity is more than just cultural when you consider that the EU right most cherished by most citizens is that of free movement, but Ireland has placed itself outside this to an extent by not being part of the Schengen free movement area. As a result of a desire to keep open the border with the North, the government opted to remain outside Schengen, as Britain did.

“It would be better for Irish citizens if they could be part of Schengen, but that is an Irish decision which we cannot and do not want to take away,” said Ms Reding, adding that at the same time Irish people benefit from the travel free area created by the rest of the EU countries, with half a million Irish living in other member states and many crossing borders freely on holidays. Goods too travel freely.

And when in trouble Irish people are aware that they are entitled to counsellor protection from the EU missions abroad and those of other member countries, with more than 1,500 seeking help last year.

The need for political union was dramatically illustrated by the euro crisis, with the failure to trust each other sufficiently more than two decades ago resulting in a half-baked currency without a European economic government, a finance minister or a proper budget.

“We created a European currency, but no budget — the US has a common currency but its budget is 35% of its GDP; ours is 1% — there are a lot of things that are missing and we have to work together more closely if we want to have a continent that becomes a real economic force that speaks with one voice in the world,” she said.

Europeans — with their dual national and EU citizenship — need to take their faith in their hand and create a European government elected by the citizens, she said. This means all voters across the member states need a common definition of politics and its policies.

Next year’s elections to the European Parliament should be about European issues, “and not about if the Irish or any other people have a problem with their national government”, she said.

Voters need to know that their national political parties are part of a European political family, for instance that Fine Gael is a member of the European People’s Party, with centre-right policies, holding power in most EU countries, the European Parliament and the European Commission. while Labour is part of the Socialists, mainly centre-left and the second largest group in the EU. Voters should be aware of the policies, what they stand for and the kind of EU these parties want to build.

She believes that in time, perhaps in 2019, the president of the commission should be directly elected, with a US-style campaign mobilised around a few candidates. In the meantime, however, she denies she is a candidate to head up the commission next year, despite widespread rumours and her increasingly high profile. She suggests her current boss, José Manuel Barroso, should run for a third term.

She will continue to focus gaining greater certainty for citizens about their rights and points to the recent decision granting people translation services and lawyers if arrested in another member state, and also to efforts to help victims of crime in cross-border instances.

She was sharply smacked down at the start of this term when she was critical of moves by former French president Nicolas Sarkozy to expel Roma. More recently her efforts to force publicly-quoted companies to increase the number of women in non-executive positions on their boards through a compulsory quota system was defeated by her fellow commissioners, influenced by the fears of business and national governments. It was later accepted as a non-mandatory measure, with sanctions at the discretion of member states.

She views the situation as a “shocking waste of talent”, when evidence shows that companies with greater gender equality survived best.

“In Ireland there is a de facto 91% male quota on the boards of listed companies and only 9% women. That is not normal and we have to break that glass ceiling. People have more sense than politicians: 96% of Irish citizens believe women should be better represented on boards, given equal qualifications, which is what the commission proposed.”

She hopes to fare better with her data-protection legislation, one of the most hotly-contested issues of recent years and one which the Irish presidency hopes to advance over the next six months. With the likes of Google and Facebook pitted against SMEs and in some cases citizens, the lobbying is huge. There is a lot at stake, as creating a single piece of legislation to replace the 27 currently in existence will save an estimated €2.3bn a year. She wants to exempt small companies from some of the more onerous obligations, such as having a data officer, but points out that it is essential for all companies that the interests of citizens are prioritised.

“65% of Irish people are worried about how companies handle their personal data. The currency of the internet world is the trust of the consumer, and once they hold back their data, the internet world is in difficulty. We have to ensure they have the right to delete their data if it’s not necessary any more — 75% of Irish people want this right.”

Creating a European citizenry is not easy, but Commissioner Reding is taking it one step at a time.