Helen Wallace

The European Union: towards a policy for Europe

It is high time that the European Union had a coherent and sustainable European policy. Such a policy should comprise a strategy for the adaptation and extension of the EU of twelve. (sixteen with the EFTA states currently applying) to include other European countries as comparable members; the refinement of its various relationships with other southern and eastern neighbours; and the reappraisal of those fundamental values and shared interests that justify collective action by the EU. This article is mainly focused on policy towards central and eastern Europe, but it touches on a much broader issue about the adaptability of the west European integration model to a now very diferent Europe.

The British presidency of the European Community's Council of Ministers: the opportunity to persuade

On 1 July 1986 British ministers and officials took over responsibility for chairing the meetings of the Council of Ministers of the European Community (EC), and of European Political Cooperation (EPC).t This was the third time since the United Kingdoms accession to the Community that the six-monthly rotation had placed the presidential baton in British hands. In 1977 and 1981 the presidency of the Council was an encumbrance for both Labour and Conservative governments, each in turn intent on securing major national objectives which were at variance with established Community policies. It had been difficult for the British to strike a balance between the pursuit of their own concerns and paying the proper attention due to the collective interest of Community. Equally, Britains partners had found it difficult to regard a British presidency with ease because of their lingering suspicion that Britain was still a reluctant member of the European family. But in 1986, for the first time since its accession, the British government entered the presidency with a slate wiped relatively clean of awkward national problems. This article will examine the context of and the preparations for the third British presidency of the Council of Ministers. It will discuss the development of the role of the presidency during a period of transition, both in the form of the Councils decision-making and in the policy agenda of the Community as a whole. It will identify the issues which are particularly salient for the British government, and the ways in which these issues are being taken forward. It will comment on the evolution of opinion within the United Kingdom about European policy. The presidency provides each member state in turn with the opportunity to place its own distinct imprint on the Council of Ministers and on EPC. With the rotation stretched by the accession of Spain and Portugal, this opportunity now arises only once every six years. Most of those involved in Community work in all the member states agree that the presidency offers only limited scope for innovation or initiative. There are no magic rabbits waiting to be pulled from a hat under the presidential chair. Most of it is sheer hard grind, grappling with awkward and highly technical subjects. But it does constitute a rigorous test of a governments capacity to demonstrate efficiency and procedural dexterity. And the issues which underpin the often obscure vocabulary of the technicians are important both politically and economically. The Community, and EPC, have reached an important point of transition. After months of agonized debate in 1985 in the Intergovernmental Conference, the Single European Act will soon introduce significant changes in the rules of Council and Parliamentary decision-making and the status of foreign policy cooperation. The

The Europe that came in from the cold

The current debate over expanding the policy scope of the EC in the intergovernmental conferences on political union and economic and monetary union is cast in the mould of traditional Community aims and methods of governance. But the context against which they are taking place, the new Europe, is radically differentfrom that in which the Community inheritance evolved, writes Helen Wallace. A deeper discussion of thefuture direction of the EC is necessary than is being conducted in the IGCs. If the aim is to develop the EC into a common polity, should it sweep into its orbit all the transnational policy issues of Europe, or all the European countries? Or should itform the core of the new system, with complementaryframeworks extending beyond it? Helen Wallace reports that though the IGC discussions do not begin to address these key questions, an important innovation is emerging in the discussions on a commonforeign and security policy: the possibility of constructing a more fluidly defined European Union with a personality and working methods alongside those of the EC.