EUROPEAN CONVENTION: BENELUX ROUNDS UP FACTION OPPOSED TO PERMANENT EUROPEAN COUNCIL PRESIDENCY.

Fielding ironic references to the revolt of the seven dwarfs, Jean-Claude Juncker suggested the epithet might apply to the Grand Duchy but not to his guests. Luxembourg's Prime Minister, like his partners, was nevertheless hard pressed to dispel the conviction that the meeting amounted to little more than the creation of a "no cartel" on the developments proposed by the large member States for the Presidency of the European Council. "Our intention is to bar the road to any risk of inter-governmental drift", said Mr Juncker, according to whom "a full-time President of the European Council would result in a second Commission and would make the current Commission the Council's Secretariat". Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende pointed to "a clear signal to Valery Giscard d'Estaing", Mr Juncker adding "at our age we are not putschists, we will not hide behind a veto at the Inter-Governmental Conference since our aim is to ensure that the notion of a full-time President of the Council does not make it beyond the Convention".

Jean-Claude Juncker signalled his intention to broaden the ranks of this faction to the candidate countries. Nine future Member States (Cyprus, Malta, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia), a candidate country (Bulgaria) and six Member States (Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Austria, Ireland and Portugal) signed a joint letter on March 16 (dubbed the "letter of the sixteen") on "Reforming the Institutions: principles and premises", which defends total conservatism regarding the current system of a half-yearly revolving Presidency of the Council. The paradox is that Benelux could not subscribe to this motion, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg having agreed on the contrary as early as December 4 on a number of evolutions, notably permanence at the General Affairs and External Relations Councils, which they believe should be chaired by the Commission or the High Representative for common foreign and security policy. The Benelux memorandum explicitly states that "the status quo is no longer a viable option". Poland, the candidate countries with the largest population, has not signed up to the letter of the sixteen.

The ambiguity of the Summit of the "Seven EU Member States that broadly share the same vision of Europe", according to the terms of the official statement inviting leaders to the meeting, is not limited to their contrasting approach on the Council Presidency. They all...

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