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After two years of paralysis and doubt, the European Union has been relaunched. The agreement reached at the European Council of 21 and 22 June is doubly good news.

First, as to substance: to say the least, the main innovations contained in the draft Constitution have been retained. Nearly all the institutional and legal changes in the treaty signed on 29 October 2004 have been incorporated in the conclusions of 22 June relating to the ‘amending treaty’. And this time the consensus on parliamentary ratification wherever possible offers a solid guarantee that there will not be another ‘ratification accident’. Indeed, the new treaty should apply as from June 2009, the date of the next European elections. If we keep to that schedule, we will almost make up the time lost by the failed referendums in France and the Netherlands.

Secondly, as to attitude: it was a long time since top European leaders had embraced the future of the Union as they did at the June solstice meeting. A German Chancellor both skilful and determined, a dynamic new French President tirelessly serving the common cause, the Prime Ministers of Spain, Italy, the UK, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, all took part in this team effort. Meanwhile the Czech Republic was helping to persuade Poland. Aside from all the media hysteria, it is an encouraging picture and it augurs well not just for agreement on its institutions but for the political relaunching of Europe. Lire la suite…

Après deux ans de paralysie et de doute, voilà l’Union européenne relancée. L’accord intervenu lors du Conseil européen des 21 et 22 juin est une double bonne nouvelle.

Sur le fond, d’abord. C’est peu dire que l’essentiel des novations que comportait le projet de Constitution est préservé : la quasi-totalité des changements institutionnels et juridiques du traité signé le 29 octobre 2004 se retrouvent dans les conclusions du 22 juin relatives au « traité modificatif ». Et, cette fois, le consensus pour recourir à la ratification parlementaire partout où cela est possible donne une solide garantie d’éviter un nouvel « accident de ratification. » Si bien que le nouveau traité devrait s’appliquer dès juin 2009, au moment des prochaines élections européennes : si ce calendrier est tenu, le temps perdu par l’échec des référendums français et hollandais aura quasiment été rattrapé.

Sur l’état d’esprit, ensuite. Il y avait longtemps que les grands dirigeants européens n’avaient pas pris à bras le corps l’avenir de l’Union comme ils l’ont fait au solstice de juin. Une chancelière allemande aussi habile que déterminée, un nouveau Président français mettant son infatigable dynamisme au service de la cause commune, et aussi les Premiers Ministres espagnol, italien, britannique, luxembourgeois, hollandais participant à ce travail d’équipe, tandis que le Tchèque aidait à convaincre le Polonais : derrière la dramaturgie médiatique, c’est une image réconfortante, et qui augure bien de la relance politique de l’Europe, au-delà de l’accord sur ses institutions. Lire la suite…

Tony Blair can leave his job as Prime Minister with at least one cause for satisfaction: ‘Blairism’ has triumphed on this side of the Channel. And that is all to the good.

It is a triumph not of the content of future French policy (nobody here approves of Blair’s decision on Iraq) but of a new political approach. A younger, more modern style, a calculated, scientific use of the media, which means not just smiling in the studio but creating an event by being there on the spot and meeting the actors involved in the dramas and successes of our time. It means abandoning the post-war ideological ‘markers’ that did so much to delay old Europe’s adjustment to the new world. When Blair was formally received at the French National Assembly, he astounded the right and angered the left by calmly declaring that there is not a right-wing or left-wing economic policy, there is a policy that works and one that fails. As a socialist, he said, I choose the policy that works; then, as a socialist, I can distribute the fruits of success. It is also worth noting that he is more attached to moral values than to doctrine. Lire la suite…

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