INTRODUCTION
Ever since the French and Dutch “no” votes effectively killed off the ill-fated European Constitution 2 years ago, the EU has been in a log-jam. For many months, the usual suspects in the British press have peddled scare stories about how any new treaty would destroy national sovereignty. But now the Reform Treaty has finally emerged, those fears have proved groundless. In this issue of Brussels Briefing, we examine what is in the new treaty and how it is likely to shape Britain’s future in Europe.

The need for reform

The EU has been experiencing growing pains for years. Well before the 2004 round of enlargement, the EU’s decision making system was creaking with only 15 member countries, let alone 25 or 27. A first stab at reform was hurriedly attempted in 2000, resulting in the messy Treaty of Nice. But, it soon became clear that Nice was simply not good enough. More reform would be still needed in an enlarged EU of 25 and later 27 countries.

Shortly after the 2004 Euro Elections, EU heads of government finally agreed a new Constitutional Treaty. It had been more than 2 years in the making and was essentially a tidying-up exercise of earlier EU treaties. However, in several crucial ways, it went a great deal further. It was called a ‘Constitution’ and wrote into an EU treaty for the first time ever references to a European anthem and a European flag. For some, these were steps too far. And when France and the Netherlands rejected the Constitutional Treaty in referenda during the summer of 2005, it was effectively dead in the water.

But, the problems of decision making in a 27 member state EU were not going away. They still needed answers. And after an 18 month period for reflection, it fell to the German EU Presidency to try and pick up the pieces and deliver a Reform Treaty capable of winning support in even the most eurosceptic member countries.

The Reform Treaty

The Reform Treaty will streamline unwieldy parts of the EU. The Commission will be reduced in size, together with the Parliament, which will be capped at 750 members. The present system of a six-month rotating EU Presidency will end. In its place, the European Council will elect a President to serve a two and a half year term. In addition, the new treaty will end the anomaly of EU foreign policy being handled by two different people – one based in Council, the other in the Commission. The two roles will be merged into a single position, though there will be no new powers and it will not carry the title of ‘Foreign Minister’. Crucially, for the first time ever, the new treaty will include specific references to the protection of children’s rights.

The most noticeable difference between the new Reform Treaty and its predecessor is any mention of constitutions, flags, anthems and other symbols that people feel threaten the nation state. Moreover, the new treaty maintains British sovereignty. All the UK government’s ‘red lines’ were retained and we also gained opt-outs in important policy areas like law and order. The EU will still not be able to dictate foreign policy to the UK and social security policy is also ring-fenced.

Crucially a protocol was agreed on the Charter of Fundamental Rights to take account of the UK’s almost unique common law tradition. Without that safeguard, the fear was that the Charter would have handed lawyers rich pickings, but not given British workers any new rights. The key point on this is that almost all the rights contained in the Charter are already provided for in current UK national law.

Anti-Europeans claim Britain has lost sovereignty because qualified majority voting (QMV) has been extended to 49 new policy areas. Most of these, though, are either very technical in nature or refer to policy areas that do not affect Britain at all. For example, 13 relate to the euro currency and other areas where Britain enjoys opt-outs. In his statement to the House of Commons on the Reform Treaty, the former Prime Minister, Tony Blair explained Britain’s stance:

“There are 9 articles of genuine substance [where there will now be QMV] on matters such as the implementation of own resources decisions, which it is in Britain’s interests to have QMV on, because it allows us to ensure that countries cannot block that; on the authorisation, co-ordination and supervision of intellectual property rights protection, which, it is absolutely in Britain’s interest to have; and on matters such as urgent aid to third countries and humanitarian aid operations.”

What the new treaty will do is allow the EU to get on with its job more efficiently and effectively. The QMV system will be altered over the next 10 years to better reflect the population of member countries. This will work to the advantage of the UK. The treaty will also give the European and national parliaments more powers to scrutinize EU policy. Moreover, all EU expenditure will now have to be approved by the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers, helping to make the EU more democratic. Also, the fight against climate change is recognised in a European Treaty – another first and another victory for Britain.


Is a referendum needed?

The new Treaty is much shorter and very minimalist, compared to the old Constitutional Treaty. That negates any need for a plebiscite. Moreover, no international treaty has ever been ratified in Britain by referendum – including when we signed up to the Treaty of Rome to join the EU and the ground-breaking Maastricht Treaty. Parliament has always made these crucial decisions. The bottom line is that the anti-Europeans would have called for a referendum, come what may. As Tory grandee Kenneth Clarke MP put it, “Eurosceptics will demand a referendum on whether to accept the date on top of the piece of paper. They are flogging a dead horse.”

Conclusion

An Intergovernmental Conference will finalise the details of the Reform Treaty this autumn. EU heads of government should then give it the stamp of approval shortly before Christmas. Despite what doom-mongers say, the Reform Treaty is another important victory for Britain and our view of Europe and the world – an EU of pragmatic policy making, designed to make life better for all its citizens. Once again Britain involved in Europe has proved to be best for Britain.

Gary Titley MEP
July 2007