Michael de Laine

By Michael de Laine, The Copenhagen Voice, 27 May 2009

In the coming years, the European Parliament and the European Commission face great challenges in dealing with climate change, the economic and financial crisis, immigration, security, foreign affairs and enlargement.

The European Parliament has a great deal of influence today, but Danish Minister of Foreign Affairs Per Stig Møller sees a number of challenges and opportunities for democracy in the European Union, where the debate often drowns in clichés about democratic deficit and judgements from the Court of Justice that go against Danish interests.

“The European Union has helped consolidate and build democracies to a greater degree than any other organisation,” Møller said in the run-up to the elections to the European Parliament, which take place on 4-7 June – on Sunday 7 June in Denmark.

“But the stabilising role of the EU is not a prize that we have won to keep for all time,” he said. “By helping compose a democratically solid European Parliament, we are contributing to emphasising the democratic values we have built in Europe and on which our welfare system is based. At the same time we will help send a signal to democratic forces in other countries that do not have free elections. Europe will only be able to continue its democratic involvement in other countries and regions if we Europeans protect our own democracy. Anything else would simply not be credible.”

Today, the European Parliament determines about 50% of the legislation passed by the Danish Parliament, and that share will rise should the Lisbon Treaty be finally approved by Irish voters in a new referendum and ratified by the three outstanding countries.

Working with or without the Lisbon Treaty is one of the challenges facing the European Parliament, the European Commission and the Council of Ministers in the coming five years.

Other major challenges are climate change, the economic and financial crisis, immigration, security, foreign affairs and enlargement.

The Copenhagen Voice talked to Jan-Høst Schmidt, European Commission representative in Denmark, and Søren Søndergaard, Head of European Parliament’s information office in Denmark, and to Rina Valeur Rasmussen, Secretary General, Danish European Movement, about the European Parliament elections and the work of the Parliament and the Commission in the future.

Their conclusion was that people should vote at the elections because it does give them a say in the composition of the European Parliament, which in the end approves the nominations to the Commission.

We also followed a question-and-answer session arranged by the University of Copenhagen, where José Manuel Barroso, European Commission President, fielded a number of questions.

Barroso justified the existence and work of the European Union, which has grown from six members in the 1950s to 27 today, with several countries applying for or negotiating membership. Through the European Parliament, the European Union represents a unique transnational democratic body. Although the European Commission comprises people nominated by governments, rather than elected members, the elected Members of the European Parliament must approve the proposed Commission.

Barroso said the European Union is not the ‘unidentified political object’ that Jacques Delors once called it.

At the current time, the EU is focusing closely on climate change and the financial and economic crisis, but it is also working on other matters, such as energy supply, defence and security policies, the Common Agricultural Policy, the fate of the Lisbon Treaty and the EU’s expansion.

On climate change, the EU, which launched its 20/20/20 vision in December, expects to play a leading role in getting an ambitious agreement signed at the COP15 UN climate conference in Copenhagen in December.

Barroso praised Denmark for its climate initiatives.

“The Danish cleantech companies lead the world,” he said, adding that many Europeans look to Denmark for inspiration in tackling energy consumption and emissions.

The European President explained the recent tiff with the Russians as a result of Russia’s lack of will to ratify the Energy Charter Treaty, an EU-backed multilateral agreement on energy investment and transit rules which Moscow signed in 1994.

“The EU has proposed alternative rules,” Barroso said. “The EU needs Russian gas supplies, but Russia also needs European consumers, who are good customers.”

The elections to the European Parliament in early June and the subsequent composition of the European Commission will occur under the current Nice Treaty rules, Barroso said.

Although many governments have ratified and signed the Lisbon Treaty, it has not been finally adopted. In Germany, it has been referred to the Constitutional Court, the Czech Republic has yet to finally enact it, and Ireland is to hold a new referendum on amendments to it, following last year’s rejection. This referendum will be later this year, presumably after the European Commission has been nominated and approved.

“We must respect the treaties that are in place,” Barroso said. “The mandate of the current Commission runs until the end of October. We must start the process of changes that will result from the Lisbon Treaty, but the situation not yet clarified.”

One of the major subjects for many years has been Turkey’s possible membership of the European Union.

“The European Commission is negotiating with Turkey on membership,” Barroso said. “Like most applicants, Turkey must upgrade laws and its systems to meet EU requirements and the Copenhagen criteria, where Turkey still has some problems.”

He admitted that there are some EU Member States who do not want Turkey to be a member of the union and the perspective of Union membership for Turkey is that it will take several years.

At a brief news conference with Danish Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Barroso said the EU must generate a feeling of involvement in the whole EU project for the younger members of society, while Rasmussen suggested that the EU must deal with the problems raised by the younger voters.