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Europeans clash with blair over union future { June 22 2005 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/22/international/europe/22cnd-europe.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/22/international/europe/22cnd-europe.html
June 22, 2005
Europeans Clash With Blair Over Union's Future
By GRAHAM BOWLEY
International Herald Tribune
BRUSSELS, June 22 - The president of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, put himself on collision course with Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain today by casting doubt on whether the European Union could move forward with changes in the budget process or further expansion.
As Mr. Blair prepared to address the European Parliament in Brussels on Thursday, when he will propose a way out of the European Union's current crisis, Mr. Barroso and other European leaders made new accusations against Mr. Blair, saying he was responsible for the breakdown of the European Union summit meeting last week.
Mr. Blair, who has become increasingly isolated since the summit meeting, assumes the six-month rotating presidency of the European Union on July 1, and he is expected to use his speech on Thursday to outline his priorities for the European Union, including stewarding the opening of membership negotiations with Turkey on Oct. 3.
But speaking after the 25-member commission had met to come up with its own proposals for lifting the European Union out of its current gloom, Mr. Barroso made his most cautious remarks to date about the prospects for Turkey gaining membership. Referring to referendums in France and the Netherlands in which voters rejected the European constitution, he said the European Union could not ignore "the signal that was sent by the electorate regarding Turkey."
The comments reflect similar sentiments expressed by European governments since the referendums, but they are the strongest to date from the commission in Brussels.
He also rejected Mr. Blair's call for an immediate fundamental rethinking of how the European Union spends its money, including reductions in farm subsidies, which largely benefit France, as a condition for striking a deal on a new financial package for 2007-13. Instead, he called for an immediate agreement before any debate to avoid "paralysis" in the union.
He said Britain should respect an agreement struck in 2002 by all European Union leaders, including Mr. Blair, which fixes farm spending until 2012.
In France today, President Jacques Chirac said at his weekly cabinet meeting: "France did everything, with its partners, to arrive at an agreement. Unfortunately, British intransigence did not allow one to be reached."
Jean-Claude Juncker, Luxembourg's prime minister and the departing European Union president, used a speech to the European Parliament today to outline the ways in which Britain, in his view, had blocked a budget compromise.
"The disagreement at the summit has meant that after the uncertainty regarding the constitution there is a deep crisis, one not exclusively budgetary or financial in nature," he said. "Britain wasn't prepared to adjust sufficiently its rebate and lighten the burden on Sweden, Germany and the Netherlands."
Mr. Barroso, offering some room for compromise to Mr. Blair, said European governments could agree a review clause in the budget to reappraise spending, including farm spending, in 2008. But the British government has made clear that it will only accept a clause that explicitly refers to spending on agriculture, and to the deal struck in 2002, a step France is likely to resist.
In an attempt to close the gap between the European Union and European citizens that is also blamed for the referendum defeats, Mr. Barroso said the commission would begin a grand tour of European nations to talk to national parliaments and people about the future of the union.
Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company
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