Alternative profiles of the UK Presidency of the European Union

Demagogy or Sound Management?

Peter Ludlow places the challenges of the next six months in perspective. Most of what the UK Presidency will have to do arises from an agenda which it did not determine and much of which it cannot hope to finish in the short time it has at its disposal. With one of the better European civil services, the British will doubtless perform most of their tasks competently and unostentatiously.

The juxtaposition of a relatively low-key agenda and the twin crises sparked by the breakdown over the budget and the negative referendum results in France and the Netherlands means however that there is an unusually high risk of demagogy. Objectively, the budgetary crisis could be settled with relative ease. Given the megaphone debate before and since the June European Council, however, low-key management of this particular problem is highly improbable. All the more so, because the UK Presidency has called at the same time for a ‘great debate’ about the future of Europe.

While acknowledging the brilliance of Tony Blair’s speech to the European Parliament at the end of June, Peter Ludlow is nevertheless profoundly pessimistic about both the likely tone and the relevance of the great debate for which the British prime minister has called. Only a few months after the European Council signed off on a major overhaul of the Lisbon agenda, it is difficult to see what concretely can or should be done to enhance the Union’s main reform programme. It is also quite clear that even if the Tony Blair who spoke to the European Parliament is the ‘real’ Tony Blair, his underlying convictions are poles apart from those of Gordon Brown, his successor in waiting. Finally, despite the prospect of a new government in Germany, the chances of building a new consensus of the kind that re launched the European Community in 1984-1985 before a change of government in France are exceedingly slim.

It would be splendid if after eight disappointing years, New Labour could begin to play a serious role at the heart of Europe. The prospects for a happy ending in December are however slight while the dangers of a serious and acrimonious rift between the UK and its EU partners are considerable.

• Publisher: EuroComment Diffusion
• Author: Peter Ludlow
• Language: English
• Type: Paperback

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