Main focus of Monday, June 23, 2008

The EU playing for time

The EU summit in Brussels came to an end with no concrete result. A final decision on the Treaty of Lisbon was put off until the next summit in October. Europe's press discusses the consequences of this strategy, and possible solutions to the EU's plight.

The Irish Times - Ireland

Patrick Smyth analyses in the Irish Times the possibilities open to the Irish government after the referendum: "The Brussels EU summit ... clarified the options facing Taoiseach [head of government] Brian Cowen after the rejection of the Lisbon Treaty. ... Brian Cowen was getting plenty of sympathy in Brussels on Thursday and Friday and the sort of breathing space that a grieving man needs to begin to put his life back together again. ... But Sarkozy and Germany's chancellor Angela Merkel sent out clear ... signals that they see Cowen's options as very limited. Eventually, and well before the European elections next June, the Irish people would again have to be asked to bring Lisbon's institutional reforms into force." (23/06/2008)

» full article (external link, English)
More from the press review on the subject » EU Constitution, » Ireland, » Europe
All available articles from » Patrick Smyth

Der Spiegel - Germany

For the German news magazine Der Spiegel, the results of the summit in Brussels are testimony to great confusion in the EU: "The EU wants to prevent Europe from coming to a standstill - and threatens to fail as a result. Although the plan is to achieve rapid ratification of the Lisbon Treaty in the remaining countries despite the Irish No vote, the summit in Brussels proved that the crisis is by no means over yet. ... It is indeed important to send the message to the European public that the Reform Treaty is not dead. But this is bringing things down to the smallest possible common denominator. Neither has a schedule been decided nor have the next steps been announced. ... One reason for the EU Council's hesitant stance is that no one has a ready-made solution. But what is even more important is to avoid conveying the impression that the EU wants to impose its will on the Irish. Yet it is already clear that there are only two ways out of the crisis: either Ireland drops out of the EU, which is not a serious alternative, or the Irish must hold a second referendum - on an altered treaty which includes certain exemptions." (23/06/2008)

» full article (external link, German)
More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » EU Constitution, » Ireland, » Europe
All available articles from » Carsten Volkery

Corriere della Sera - Italy

For the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, greater civic participation offers a solution to the problems faced by the EU. "European unity requires universal respect for the morals and customs, beliefs and conventions, even the specific diets of each individual country. We do not need the state or a political class to decide what is good and what is bad. Fears and distrust can be overcome by asking the people to vote far more often than at present, in electing MEPs for example, and for all the problems that concern them directly which are now handled directly by the bureaucracy in Brussels. Just like in Switzerland, which manages to hold all its ethnic groups together by respecting their differences." (23/06/2008)

» full article (external link, Italian)
More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » EU Constitution, » Switzerland, » Europe
All available articles from » Francesco Alberoni

Magyar Nemzet - Hungary

The Hungarian daily Magyar Nemzet expresses concern about the consequences of the present EU crisis for EU candidate Croatia and the EU's newest members: "Over the past few days the EU's leading politicians have come across as hysterical toddlers who have been deprived of their favourite toy: the EU constitution which now goes under the name of the 'Lisbon Treaty'. ... The spokespeople representing these toddlers even went as far as to warn that until we have a Reform Treaty there can be no further EU enlargement, or in other words, Croatia will not be allowed to join. This is a shameful, petty message addressed to those small EU countries that back Croatia's bid for membership. It is not the EU that is dying in the aftermath of the Irish referendum but rather its frequently trumpeted democratic principles. ... Faced with the chaos of Brussels one can only ask oneself: is this really the kind of EU we wanted to join? If this question were put to a pan-European referendum now I am afraid we would receive an 'Irish answer'." (23/06/2008)

» full article (external link, Hungarian)
More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » EU Constitution, » Europe, » Croatia
All available articles from » István Pataky

» To the complete press review of Monday, June 23, 2008