Entangled Alliances

photo credit: Gernot Poetsch

Not too much closer union

In a wide-ranging and fascinating judgement, the highly activist German Constitutional Court has ruled that the Treaty of Lisbon is compatible with its Basic Law. There are, however, certain provisos that significantly affect the force of some of the parts of the Treaty that could lead to deeper integration without an amending treaty. It also has a lot to say on the future scope of European integration.

The press release is certainly worth reading in full, and it’s only seven pages if you copy and paste into Word – useful for highlighting. If you have time to read the judgement in full it’s more like 119 pages, but I think for those geeks of European integration and judicial philosophy out there it will be well worth a look.

I was going to wait to comment on this before I’d seen what the highly-recommended German Law Journal had to say about it (its discussion of a 2006 ruling is a great example). Then I noticed this evening that Nosemonkey had come out with some very interesting analysis into the ruling, and thought I’d try and get my initial thoughts down before seeing what any more people had to say on the matter.

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photo credit: mohammadali

As Mark announced on the update to his post, Cameron has formally reasserted his desire for the Conservatives to leave the European People’s Party, the centre right coalition for the European Parliament. Then he will attempt to form a new bloc, which  supports the economic benefits of Europe but keeps away from the federalist leanings underpinning that the EPP displays.

The problem as the FT’s Brussels Bureau Chief, makes clear is that the alternative to the EPP doesn’t look that  promising and worse, where there is promise for a new bloc, that may cause Mr Cameron as many problems. Yet the Conservative Party’s European alliances are only a small part of the bigger picture. Cameron’s move away from the EPP is not unusual or without precedent in British politics but it is one that has been tried and tested before and has invariably come up short. Furthermore, Cameron risks isolating the UK from Europe precisiely at a time when greater cooperation is, and will be necessary, all to secure control of a rebel wing of his party.

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In an earlier post on language I alluded to the idea of a European “demos”, that elusive common sense of European identity and political community which would seem to be the key to any chance of “ever closer union”.  The disconnect between European citizens and their governing institutions is certainly stark.  Have you talked to anyone lately who’s getting excited about the upcoming elections to the European Parliament?  Can anyone doubt that the election of the American president was a much more exciting prospect for an overwhelming majority of Europeans than the selection of a new president of the EU Commission?  And what of the question of identity?  A resident of Manchester would probably describe him or herself as British, English, Northern and Mancunian before considering, if at all, that he or she might be European.

photo credit: Albertane

Some argue that it’s impossible to achieve a common political identity across 27 member states, pointing to different political traditions, language barriers and the enduring pride of the nation-state.  The possibility of “demos” and the very logic of supra-national representation was, for example, attacked by Czech President Vaclav Klaus in the European Parliament last month.  The attitude of Klaus, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the EU Council (bring on Sweden), is indicative of a habit of  unproductive naysaying.  It slams the European project without offering solutions and delights only those with preconceived Eurosceptic attitudes.

Without indulging in the media-fostered image of phantom overlords plotting away in Eurospeak in their Brussels hideaways, then, I fully admit the need for a greater sense of relevance for the EU and the importance of attempts to foster “Europeanness”.  Indeed, in response to Klaus’s challenge, the task of pro-Europeans is to identify measures that could be taken to improve the extent to which Europeans identify with their policy makers and planners.  Below the fold, I discuss some of these ideas.

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photo credit: PappaJack

Tuesday marked the anniversary of Kosovo’s declaration of independence from Serbia. I meant to write about this sooner – but the day passed off largely without event, with none of the ugly scenes in Belgrade of a year ago.

In the extended entry, I’ll look at the effect of this declaration – both in Kosovo and on the wider international system – as well as the mood on the ground, from a visit I made there a couple of months ago.

(and I will definitely return to my mini-series on the EU in 2009 shortly – I should also have a post on Norway coming up in the next few days)

This post has become quite large so I’ve divided it up into the following sections if you’d prefer to read it that way.

• The International System
  • and Serbia
• Inside Kosovo
  • Division of Kosovo?
  • Mitrovica
  • Civil Society

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photo credit: rockcohen

Five years on from the “big bang” enlargement of 2004, and in a year of such economic turbulence, what are the prospects for European integration this year? Analysing this situation is difficult because there are so many different factors to consider, from the world recession and the European Parliament elections in June to the continuing saga of the Lisbon Treaty and the the energy security challenges posed (in particular) by Russia. Many of these issues have already been highlighted in Mark Mardell’s excellent Euroblog.

In order not to dilute the importance of all of these issues, it’s probably worth devoting a post to each of them. Today we’ll start with the global economic downturn – join me below the fold.

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