Budget debacle

By Matt Dempsey

At long last the prophecy of de Gaulle has been realised. The UK saw and sees Europe as primarily a free trade zone. Most other member states including Ireland, we hope, see something profoundly more. The visible divergence of views was hidden by Margaret Thatcher winning a huge and fundamentally unjustified budgetary rebate in 1984.

The pretence of unity of purpose and approach was maintained by the decision not to increase the EU budget to deal with the political necessity forced by the inconveniently timed collapse of Communism, to accept Eastern Europe prematurely into the Union - just at a time when Germany was distracted politically and economically by the enormous costs of reunification. It is heartening to see the more responsible British media such as the Financial Times lambast Mr Blair for his opportunistic and belated linkage of the rebate with CAP reform. To attempt to renege on a solemn agreement between member states signed just three years ago has fully justified the feelings of cynicism bordering on despair on the UK attitude to Europe.

The core of the French and Dutch rejections of the "Constitution'' has been the view - in many ways justified that insulated senior civil servants and politicians did not realise the effects enlargement were having on the lives and mentalities of those having to live in the real world. Here in Ireland the mushroom industry has been one of the most obvious areas that has been badly affected and sugar is rapidly following. For the populations of the original founding members who lived through the first 15 years of the old EEC as a period of cementing and consolidation of attitudes the recent expansion has been breathtaking and too rapid. The process of absorbtion would have been difficult and expensive in any event, but throw into the mix fundamental world trade reforms and its hardly surprising that people when asked, took the view that saying "No'' was safer than saying "Yes''. To add insult to injury to sell the new document as a constitution was a fundamental mistake. It is nothing of the sort. It is a consolidation of existing treaties and contains needed provisions to allow greater efficiencies in the working of the 25 member Union. At a time of political change, it is to put it at its mildest, unfortunate that one of the very richest member states should have so gone out on a limb in pursuit of such narrow self interest over such a small amount.

Countries less than a quarter as well off as the UK and who have pinned all their national hopes on Europe offered to pick up some of the bill if only the European project could get back on the rails. It's been a bad weekend but at least the fault lines are clear. The way forward is not clear - but dismantling the CAP as the UK has wanted since it joined in 1973 would not help an iota. If more common policies are needed and wanted then increase the common budget accordingly.