Concentrating on what matters most

Date: 14/12/1995

TALK of a two-speed Europe, in which countries committed to closer integration could not be held back by those reluctant to countenance further progress, can be heard once again as EU leaders prepare for what could be their most important summit since Maastricht.

A joint letter prepared by German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and French President Jacques Chirac, which was sent to summit host Felipe Gonzalez this week - coupled with mounting concern over German plans for a Stability Council to monitor the economic performance of countries which qualify for economic and monetary union - has revived speculation that the EU may be on the brink of a fundamental change in direction.

Both will be seized on by those opposed to the notion of a 'Europe à la carte' as worrying signs of the emergence of an inner and outer core of EU nations, with an élite group of countries forging ahead and leaving the rest behind.

While countries less than whole-heartedly committed to the goal of “ever closer union” laid down in the Maastricht Treaty may be equivocal about this, it will be greeted with dismay in those countries committed to the goal but unsure of just how fast they can move towards achieving it.

The time may well come when EU governments will have to consider seriously how to bridge the gap between those countries which want to and are able to take the next steps towards closer union, and those who are either unable or unwilling to do so. Serious discussion of stability pacts might well play an important part in persuading a reluctant German public to abandon their beloved deutschemarks as the date for EMU comes closer, and a two-speed approach towards political integration may well have to be contemplated if the intransigence of a few blocks all progress at next year's Intergovernmental Conference.

But now is not the time. EU leaders faced with a heavy workload at this weekend's summit must avoid doing or saying anything which could alienate some within their ranks by making them feel their country's role as an equal player in the Union is under threat.

Instead of becoming bogged down in divisive philosophical debates, it is vital for EU leaders to focus their efforts on finding answers to the key questions which must be addressed in Madrid.

The most important of these is to bring to an end the long-running dispute over the name of the single currency.

Far from being “a convenient distraction” from the issues which matter most, as UK Prime Minister John Major has suggested, it is absolutely vital this issue is settled once and for all at this summit.

If it is not, the credibility of the entire venture will be fatally undermined in the eyes of the public, without whose support it is doomed to fail - rendering the current debate over stability pacts, and whether economic and monetary union should be accompanied by closer political union, rather academic.