EU/REGIONS: BASQUE GOVERNMENT CALLS FOR RIGHT TO ATTEND COUNCIL MEETINGS.

Just as it takes up the reins of the EU Council of Ministers, the Spanish Government is having to deal with a dispute with the Basque Government over the participation of regional authorities in meetings of the Council of Ministers. At issue is the exclusive authority over fiscal policy enjoyed by the Basque region under domestic law - in this respect, the local government calls itself "the sixteenth member of the European Union" - and its desire to be represented in discussions on the issue at the European level, and therefore within the Ecofin Council. The problem is that the Spanish Government is not willing to give up its exclusive prerogatives in the conduct of its external relations, and therefore its exclusive presence within EU institutions (formal Council sessions as well as working parties and the Committee of Member States' Permanent Representatives to the EU - COREPER). The Government has rejected the Basque Government's demands while the regional authority has condemned Madrid's stance.No opposition exists among European institutions since the modification of Article 146 of the...