The European Union nations signed a new treaty Monday enshrining reforms to allow the union to expand in coming years, as French President Jacques Chirac rejected criticism the pact was too modest.
The EU foreign ministers signed the treaty that contains
institutional reforms enabling the EU to admit a dozen countries,
mostly from eastern Europe, in the years ahead.
Letting in 12 countries _ 13, if Turkey makes the grade _ will
be the most ambitious expansion ever undertaken by a group that
began modestly with six members in 1957.
Chirac said the Nice treaty was a compromise that may not
“satisfy the ambitions” of the most integration-minded member
states. But, he said, it makes enlargement possible while safeguarding the sovereignty of all members _ a French priority. He called that a good basis for the next treaty reforms, to be completed by 2004, dealing with the exact powers of the union and its members. That is an issue already dividing the 15 EU governments.
The Nice treaty was signed in an ornate chamber of a former government mansion by the foreign ministers who flew to Nice from Brussels where they held their monthly session.
It must now be ratified by the 15 EU legislatures and the European Parliament to take legal effect, probably in late 2002.
Its contents are seen in some quarters as a minimalist step forward largely because France and Germany, long the engine of European integration, disagree fundamentally on the EU’s future shape and role.
That division helped turn a two-day December summit into five days of squabbling over sharing out votes in a club that will grow to 27 nations, curbing the veto right, providing for more majority voting and setting an agenda of further reforms by 2004.
Germany, along with Italy, wants to move toward a United States of Europe with a constitution and bill of rights. France and Britain are wary of a “European superstate,” preferring a club of independent nations. The smaller members each have their own views on how to move forward.
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