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英語のニュース

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EU readying for new challenge

EUの新たな課題

Leaders of the European Union, meeting in Brussels last weekend, agreed to set up a broadly represented advisory body next March to draft recommendations for EU reform. The agreement marks another milestone on the road to an enlarged EU. Half a century following the creation of a common European market, the EU today is an economic superpower that will, in two weeks, have a single currency in a market of more than 300 million people. Euro notes and coins will go into circulation beginning in January. In 2004, the 15-nation union will likely have 10 more members, including former communist states of Eastern Europe.

The EU, however, faces many problems at home and abroad as it moves into a new age. Thrashing out those problems and drawing up a reform blueprint will be a key task of the advisory panel to be headed by former French President Giscard d'Estaing. Along with former German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, d'Estaing last year called for steady efforts to "lay the groundwork" for further EU integration and expansion.

The former French leader contends that members in similar economic and social conditions should take the initiative for integration. He also maintains that membership should be extended initially to a selected group of countries, including the Czech Republic, and that entry applications from Turkey and other countries beyond should be considered in the future.

French President Jacques Chirac reportedly worked hard to get Mr. d'Estaing elected as head of the council — a move that will likely accentuate France's contribution to European integration. The two men envision the EU as a looser federation of sovereign states, not a closely knit European federation, and call for a phased enlargement. British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who favors British entry into the European Monetary Union, also supports the realistic approach.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, keen to maintain the "Franco-German axis," appears to have relented in his bid to create a "federal Europe" and to expand markets through eastward enlargement. His moderation also appears to reflect a need to address domestic concerns that an expanded EU would sharply increase immigration from Eastern Europe.

The council will have as its two vice chairs former Belgian Prime Minister Jean-Luc Dehaene and former Italian Prime Minister Guiliani Amato. Belgium leads the smaller nations that aim to create a European federation through gradual surrender of sovereignty. Amato's selection could shore up the political fortune of European Commission President Romano Prodi, a former Italian prime minister.

The new panel, including government and parliamentary representatives from applicant countries, will have more than 100 members. It represents a democratic process of sorting out issues not familiar to EU citizens, such as organizational and institutional reforms. The 75-year-old d'Estaing will be required to deal flexibility with these issues, which touch the heart of national sovereignty. He will also need to demonstrate strong leadership to draft reforms tailored to the day-to-day needs of EU citizens.

Streamlining an increasingly complex EU organization — an essential prerequisite to enlargement — is also a daunting challenge, given a tangled web of national interests among the member states. The clash of national egos created turmoil at two previous summits — in 1997 in Amsterdam and in 2000 in Nice. To avoid a repetition in Brussels, Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt arranged a chairman's compromise that left conclusions to a later report.

That aside, the Brussels summit moved toward further cooperation in law enforcement with an agreement to set up a common system for issuing arrest warrants for terrorist suspects. EU leaders also gave the green light for a European rapid response unit, which will be ready for action beginning in 2002. As yet there is no unified military command system; troops from member states carry their national flags.

Meanwhile, as the United States goes it alone on various international issues, the importance of trilateral cooperation among Japan, the U.S. and Europe grows by the day. Earlier this month, on the 10th anniversary of Japan-EU regular consultations, the two sides agreed on a broad action plan calling for a decade of closer and wider cooperation through 2010. There is indeed much Japan and Europe can and should do, not only economically but politically as well. Environmental protection and refugee relief are but two important areas of cooperation.

ベルギーのブリュッセルで開かれたEU首脳会議は、EU改革の草案作成のための諮問機関を来年3月に発足させることで合意した。この合意によりEU拡大の取組みは新たな局面を迎えた。欧州共同市場が創設されて50年、EUは単一通貨を有する3億人規模の経済市場に成長し、2004年には旧共産圏国家を含む10ヵ国が加盟する見通しだ。ジスカール・デスタン元仏大統領を議長とする諮問機関の課題は、EUが域内外で直面する問題の論議と詳細な改革計画の策定である。

ジスカール・デスタン氏は、経済･社会的条件が似通った加盟国の統合へ向けた努力をし、新規加盟国(当初はチェコなど)を限定し、トルコなどの加盟申請は今後の検討対象とすべきだと主張する。ジスカール・デスタン氏と、氏の議長選出に尽力したシラク仏大統領は、EUの将来像を緊密な連合でなく、結びつきのゆるい独立国家の連盟として構想し、段階的拡大を求めている。欧州通貨連盟加盟支持派のブレア英首相もこの構想に賛成している。仏独機軸を維持したいシュレーダー独首相は｢欧州連邦｣の設立と、東方拡大による市場拡大を狙っていたが譲歩したようだ。東欧からの移民急増に対する国民の懸念に対処する必要があるからだ。

諮問機関の副議長にはベルギーとイタリアの元首相が就任する。ベルギーは、徐々に主権を委譲する形で欧州連合の形成を目指す小国の中で主導権を握っている。諮問機関は組織･制度改革に向けた民主的プロセスを推進するが、議長はEU加盟国の主権に関わるこれらの問題に柔軟に対応すると同時に、各国のニーズに合わせた改革案作成で指導力を発揮する必要がある。

複雑化するEU組織の合理化はEU拡大の必須条件だが、これも加盟国の国益が絡んでくるだけに困難な課題だ。1997年と2000年のEU首脳会議も、国家エゴの衝突で紛糾したが、今回そういった事態が再び起こるのを避けるため、ベルギーのベルホフスタット首相は議長として妥協策をとり、結論を後の報告書に委ねた。

それを除けばブリュッセル首脳会議は、テロ容疑者に対する域内で共通の逮捕状作成に合意したことで、法執行上の協力の強化に向かって前進した。米国が単独で国際問題に対処する中、日米欧間の協力の重要性は日増しに高まっている。12月初旬、10周年を迎えた日欧定例会議は2010年までの日欧間の協力拡大に向けた行動計画に合意した。日本と欧州は経済面、政治面で大いに協力できるはずだ。その中でも、環境保護と難民救済の二つは重要な分野である。