quinta-feira, 17 de dezembro de 2015

The summit that wasn’t


The summit that wasn’t

At a pre-Christmas meeting of EU leaders, there’s nothing under the tree.

By MATTHEW KARNITSCHNIG 12/18/15, 3:44 AM CET

Europe’s leaders took pains this week to lower expectations for their final summit of 2015. By the end of the crucial round of discussions Thursday evening, it was clear they were too optimistic.

On the two key issues under discussion Thursday — the refugee crisis and British proposals to reform the EU — the leaders broke little, if any new ground. The most tangible decision they made was to adjourn their deliberations on those issues until the New Year.

The leaders’ failure to achieve even the hint of a breakthrough on the existential challenges the EU faces (be it the threatened collapse of its system of open borders or the refusal of many countries to accept refugees) will deepen concerns across the region that the EU’s unwieldy decision-making apparatus has paralyzed the bloc’s power to properly function.

The summit, which concludes Friday, brings to a close a year that many regard as the EU’s most difficult. A series of crises, from the influx of refugees to tensions with Russia to terrorism, has left the union more divided than ever.

British demands that the EU undergo a radical reform, in particular a proposal to limit welfare benefits to non-U.K. EU citizens, have further inflamed passions. British Prime Minister David Cameron has promised to hold a referendum on the U.K.’s EU membership and has hinted he might support the country’s withdrawal from the union if the proposals aren’t adopted.

A dinner discussion of the U.K.’s reform plans, which Cameron has divided into four “baskets,” topped the agenda late Thursday. While many of the ideas, such as a proposal to cut red tape and one to give national parliaments more say in EU affairs, aren’t controversial, others are.

Several countries have refused to consider any reforms that would impinge on EU citizens’ freedom of movement, a right many regard as the essence of European integration. Cameron’s main aim is to reduce the number of EU citizens drawn to the U.K., a goal that may prove impossible to achieve without altering the union’s founding treaty.

The U.K. leader has been shuttling across Europe in recent weeks trying to win support for his blueprint. He presented the plans to fellow EU leaders on Thursday to mixed reviews.

While all of the leaders expressed a desire to keep the U.K. in the EU, several made it clear they weren’t willing to do so at any price.
Many in Europe’s capitals have been put off by Cameron’s approach. The EU usually makes decisions by building a consensus around an idea and then haggling over the details. Cameron has ignored that tradition by presenting the EU with a list of demands and threatening to leave if they aren’t met.

He said after the summit ended that he could see a “pathway” to a deal, but also declared that he would not back down from his demands.

While all of the leaders expressed a desire to keep the U.K. in the EU, several made it clear they weren’t willing to do so at any price.

“The social benefits issue, it’s the most delicate, the most difficult,” European Council President Donald Tusk said afterward. “We have to respect what the U.K. and David Cameron want but we also have to respect member states’ needs.”

Even as Tusk insisted the group had made “significant progress” on the Brexit question, he emphasized the challenges ahead.

“We absolutely have to be tough when it comes to some red lines,” he said. “We will not give up when it comes to free movement and anti-discrimination.”

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker appeared even more cautious, stressing that Cameron’s proposal to curtail welfare payments and the free movement of EU citizens weren’t the only problems that needed to be overcome.

“We’ve only had this problem for four or five months. For other important issues in Europe we’ve needed 10 years” — Angela Merkel.
“I’d like to warn you of the illusory idea that there are three easy questions and one tricky one,” he said, referring to the UK’s four-section proposal. “There are four tricky questions.”

Given the complexity of those questions, it could be difficult for the U.K. to achieve its aim to secure an agreement at the next EU summit in February.

Even Angela Merkel, Cameron’s strongest ally among the other 27 EU leaders, urged caution.

“It’s certainly not going to be easy,” she said. “We’ve only had this problem for four or five months. For other important issues in Europe we’ve needed 10 years, so we’ll need to learn faster.”

Cameron, who vowed as he entered to meeting to fight “all night” for a deal, emerged after midnight, saying he was encouraged by the response to his presentation.

“What I sense in the room is that there’s a lot of goodwill, there’s a momentum, people want a deal that keeps Britain in the EU,” he said.

The leaders made even less headway on the evening’s other burning issue: refugees.

The group agreed to further examine a Commission proposal to establish an EU border patrol with a rapid-reaction force that could be dispatched to secure the frontiers.

Germany and France see the idea as essential in order to preserve the Schengen agreement, which allows for borderless travel across most of Europe.

Some countries have questioned the viability of an EU border force amid concerns that it would impinge on national sovereignty.

A more pressing question involves how to deal with the 1.5 million refugees who arrived in Europe this year. Germany has taken in most of the arrivals. It wants other EU countries to share the burden but they have for the most part refused.

While countries agreed this fall to a limited agreement to allocate about 160,000 refugees across the EU, they have so far refused to implement it.

Tusk said the EU suffered from a “delivery deficit” in its response to the migration crisis. At Thursday’s meeting leaders again vowed to honor the commitments they have made.

Speaking after the meeting, Merkel sought to downplay the difficulty Berlin has had convincing other countries to pitch in, saying it would take time for Europe to adjust to the situation.

“Every learning curve begins slowly,” she said.

Authors:


Matthew Karnitschnig 

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