The future of Europe after the EU Summit in Brussels

The heads of state and government of the 27 EU member states came together at a Summit Meeting in Brussels on 21/22 June 2007. The results of the 35-hour negotiations are assessed positively by Werner Weidenfeld, Centrum für angewandte Politikforschung, University of Munich. In his opinion, more was achieved than many expected. Europe succeeded once again in not falling into the abyss into which it had peered many times during the Summit. In comparison to the Treaty of Nice, the democratic legitimation and the EU’s scope for action have been considerably strengthened and world-policy action also enabled. For this the German Council Presidency has created a firm foundation. Wolfgang Wessels and Verena Schäfer, University of Cologne, regard the results with more scepticism. In the draft text for the reform treaty, the “dual dilemma” of the members states is visible, which from the very beginning has marked the expansion of the EU system. The situation could be characterised as a “dilemma of levels”, that national-level problems can only be solved by transferring national competencies or by relinquishing de-jure sovereignty to the European level. The “decision-making dilemma” is such that an efficient problem solving at the European level is associated with giving up national autonomy. Also this reform treaty offers no clear answer to the questions of the future of Europe in the sense of “clearly formulated finality”. For Andreas Maurer, Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, Berlin, there are many indications of flexibilisation as well as fragmentation tendencies. In addition, the “drifting apart tendencies” of several EU member states will be strengthened all the more with the weakening of the European Commission that has occurred.