Biarritz affair
FT-leader, October 13, 2000

If the crisis in the Middle East and continuing instability in Yugoslavia leave any time, the leaders of the European Union are supposed to be discussing institutional reform and their long-range visions of the future at the casino in Biarritz on Friday. It is an important debate, and one that should not be conducted in haste. Nor should it be an excuse to stop the clock on the urgent reforms needed to open the doors of the club to new members from eastern and southern Europe.

Jacques Chirac, the French president who is in the chair, has made it clear he wants an "ambitious" outcome at the December EU summit in Nice. This informal meeting is supposed to give the process new momentum. His plan would mean a streamlined European Commission with fewer members than there are member states - say a maximum of 20 - and a substantial reweighting of votes to restore the influence of the biggest members. More areas would be opened up to majority voting, and new rules would be agreed to allow some members to press ahead with integration faster than others.

The trouble for Mr Chirac is that the outcome is likely to be far more modest. The idea of a 20-member ceiling on the Commission is eminently sensible. It would not only be more efficient, but also break the insidious national "ownership" of Commission seats. But a majority of members, big and small, is simply not ready to abandon the national flag on such jobs.

As for reweighting votes, the simplest and most intelligible solution seems to be the double-majority system. It would require any decision to enjoy the support of both a majority of member states, and a majority of the EU population. That would not be to France's liking, although it would satisfy Germany, the largest member state. It would avoid endless wrangling over precise voting weights, which very seldom make a difference in EU decision-making.

The chances of a minimalist outcome at Nice, and the disinclination of the leaders to debate fine detail, mean that they will almost certainly want to spend more time discussing big ideas for the future. Joschka Fischer, Germany's foreign minister, Britain's prime minister Tony Blair and Mr Chirac have all put up proposals to make the EU more democratic, more effective, and more popular.

It is a vital debate, but they should not contemplate calling yet another inter-governmental conference before the present one is done. There is a real danger of delaying the enlargement process, and undermining the outcome in Nice. Europe needs a pause for reflection, not an interminable round of constitutional debate.

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