EU leaders gather to hammer out constitution

Europe’s leaders gather in Brussels tomorrow for a summit to seal a constitution knowing that failure is not an option.

In the wake of a euro election backlash against the EU project – not just in the UK – it could be hardly a worse time to be trying to agree a landmark new deal which is inevitably seen as pushing more sovereign power in the direction of Brussels.

But the post-election defence strategy is attack, talking up the proposed constitutional treaty as the only way forward in the face of mounting euroscepticism.

“If there is a deal, it could be seen as the moment when the European Union started getting its act together as a 25-nation bloc – the moment when they acted on the twin issues of security and prosperity which are of concern to the people,” said one senior EU diplomat.

“We have to try to develop the European project. We need to show that Europe works,” said foreign minister Brian Cowen. He has worked behind the scenes with Taoiseach Bertie Ahern – chairing the summit – for six months to pave the way for agreement.

The first attempt at a constitution fell apart last December over Polish and Spanish demands for more voting clout around the new, enlarged EU negotiating table of 25 members.

That dispute has still not been settled, with other major issues on majority voting, the Charter of Fundamental Rights and the powers of the European Commission to be resolved in less than two days of scheduled talks.

But Mr Ahern gave the go-ahead for another constitution bid under his presidency after taking soundings from his EU counterparts.

That was before the euro elections set alarm bells ringing that the EU remains out of touch with a small but increasingly significant proportion of the barely 50% of the electorate which bothered to vote.

“Politically and in public relations terms another failure to agree the constitution would be a total disaster,” admitted one EU insider.

“But although we do need a new rule book to make the larger EU run more smoothly, nothing is going to happen overnight. If it weren’t for the wrong signals it would send, we can afford for all practical purposes not to agree this time, but come back later.”

On the table is a complex web of interlocking issues which make up the terms of the new constitution. It covers how the EU votes on key issues, including taxation, social security common foreign and defence matters, cross-border criminal justice and home affairs and the setting of the EU budget.

It establishes the future size of the EU Commission, the legal status of a Charter of Fundamental Rights, and sets out the relative voting weights of each national delegation around the EU negotiating table.

It also gives more scrutiny power over EU law-making to the European Parliament and national parliaments.

When it was first conceived, the constitution was seen as a way of bridging the gap between the EU and the 450 million citizens it now represents.

After the disastrous euro-election, eurocrats are struggling to reverse the impression that the constitutions is the embodiment of the Brussels “interference” the protest vote was aimed at.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair has insisted he will not agree to a constitution which is not in British interests.

That means that if he does agree a deal, he must show the new voting arrangements preserve the UK’s ability to veto any EU-level plans affecting taxation, foreign and defence policy, social security, and other key sovereign matters.

“There is a real negotiation to be had.” said one British government official. “The Prime Minister is going to Brussels to try to get a deal. But it must be the right deal.

“The right response after the euro-elections is for the EU’s leaders to be purposeful and decisive. They have got to get on with business.

“The Taoiseach is very determined and has prepared very carefully. All the necessary components for a deal are there. But the terms have to be right for us.”

Agreeing a constitution requires a unanimous vote of the 25 EU leaders.

And although failure is seen as not an option at the summit, it is an option Mr Blair will take, using his veto, if he thinks he has to.