ITALY: Ahead of 50th anniversary of the treaty of Rome, Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi looks forward to a new document which will allow the EU to leave behind two years of paralysis

Ahead of the 50th anniversary of the treaty which created the forerunner of the European Union (EU), Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi looks forward to a new document which will allow the EU to leave behind two years of paralysis. Even though it turns 50 this month, the European Union is unsure of what it wants to be in the long run. The six-nation European Economic Community created by the Treaty of Rome on March 25, 1957, has grown with no architect's plan into a sprawling, 27-nation union that covers most of the continent and is the world's biggest trading bloc. But there are concerns that its size has made it unwieldy and its divisions have made it ineffective. "There is a strong feeling that the paralysis of the last two years is severely damaging our role in the world," Italian Prime Minister and former EU Commissioner Romano Prodi told to a news conference on Monday (March 19). The Union has yet to fully digest the "big bang" expansion that saw it grow from 15 to 25 member states in 2004, when most of the ex-communist states of central Europe joined what had been a wealthy west European bloc. When French and Dutch voters rejected an EU constitution in 2005 intended to adapt the bloc's creaking institutions to cope with increased membership, one factor was discontent at the eastward enlargement and fear of Turkey joining. Those referendum defeats triggered a crisis of confidence that lingers two years later, leaving the EU struggling on with an outdated rule book designed for six like-minded states. When EU leaders meet next week to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, they will be unable to utter the word "constitution" in their solemn Berlin Declaration or give a firm date for reforming their institutions. "It is now necessary to resume a dialogue in order to draw a document that will be the point of reference for almost half a billion European citizens," said Prodi. "We realised that the lack of a European presence in general foreign policy was doing objective damage to world peace," he said. Apart from France and the Netherlands, Eurosceptical Britain, Poland and the Czech Republic have failed to ratify the treaty and want it slimmed down or unpicked in ways that could upset the delicate balance on which it was built. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has emerged as Europe's most influential deal-maker, faces a tough challenge in trying to revive negotiations on reform at a summit in June. Merkel will be in Rome on Monday to meet Prodi and to pay homage to the Treat of Rome. On economic policy, countries such as France want closer budget and tax harmonisation led by the 13 countries that share the euro single currency, while eastern newcomers want to keep their low-tax advantage to catch up economically. "We are the largest economic structure in the world and we have a great responsibility in the future of world politics and economy," said Prodi. On trade, the EU is divided between farming nations that want to limit concessions on opening agricultural markets and cutting subsidies, and those who argue Europe has most to gain from a far-reaching liberalisation of global commerce. If EU leaders can salvage key reforms in the constitution and either win or avoid another round of referendums, the Union may be able to overcome doubts over its future.

ITN Source | March 20, 2007

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