The Case of Slovakia
come to an agreement on the substance of what it had meant than on these terms.
Imrich Marton
the political union will beyond any doubt require such a political and legal document.
How should this document look like? Short, clear and readable are the cri-teria stated in the Declaration of Milan on a European Constitution adopted by three European think-tanks in November 2000. One can not do anything but agree with these criteria, since one of the main attributes of this docu-ment should become transparency and one of the main functions making the relations in the Union clear as it is still being perceived by the citizens as a bureaucratic conglomerate administrated from Brussels.
Finally, it is also in the interest of the Union itself to provide the citizens with a transparent model of basic relations and mechanisms of the EU and thereby achieve higher involvement of the citizens in European issues. I have mentioned above that I consider the European constitution as a key question of the debate. On the other hand, this question is, at the same time, the most sensitive one. Therefore I do not dare to say when there will be a sufficient political will in Europe to adopt such a document - regardless of either it will be called constitution or otherwise. However, I would like to emphasize another significant point of this document. I have mentioned above that in Europe there is a lack of emotional basis for the deepening of integration processes. A big leap in this context is to be the implementation of the Euro, which will soon replace twelve national currencies. The adop-tion of the European constituadop-tion could signify a definitive breakthrough in this direction. The European constitution would be nothing less than the materialization of the European identity. The adoption of such a document could give Europe that emotional impetus I have mentioned above.
The question on the content of the European constitution remains open as well. Another issue defined in the Declaration on the Future of the Euro-pean Union automatically emerges in this context - the status of the Charter of the Fundamental Rights of the European Union. I suppose that just this Charter should become the important part of the European constitution.
This would express the devotion of the EU to the protection of human rights and freedoms. Moreover, through the incorporation of the Charter to the European constitution the Charter would achieve legally binding status.
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At the same time only such a status can provide the European citizens with an effective guarantee for the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms on the European level. In this context the question of the proce-dural guarantor of the protection of human rights on the European level also emerges. A most natural solution of this question seems to be an ex-tension of the jurisdiction of the European court of justice on this field.
Another very important part of the European constitution seems to be a de-limitation of the powers between the European union and the member states, which is also according the Declaration on the Future of the Euro-pean Union another main issue of the debate. This part of the discussion is of immense importance for several reasons:
a) the clear delimitation of the powers of the Union on one hand and the member states on the other hand would contribute towards increasing of transparency of the relations in the Union and thus bringing the Union closer to its citizens.
b) the exact delimitation of powers would provide member states with guarantees for protection of national interests against excessive and unjusti-fied Union influence and thus will become the main instrument of the pro-tection of national identity.
c) the clear delimitation of powers would create adequate space for more flexible and more effective European decision-making and acting.
There are a lot of patterns for vertical division of powers. The ideal pattern for Europe could be the one which would explicitly define the exclusive powers of the Union completed with the general clause according to which everything that does not fall within the exclusive competence of the Euro-pean Union should belong to the competence of the member states. Effec-tiveness of the decision-making will probably require also the definition of the fields of shared competence, in which both the Union and the member states could take decisions. Which level of decision-making is competent in the concrete case should then be determined in accordance with the princi-ple of subsidiarity.
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In connection with the vertical division of powers, the regions and their status are sometimes mentioned, too. The principal problem in this context lies in the different status of the regions of Europe. Whereas the lands in Germany or in Austria are the member states of the federation, the regions in other member states (except Belgium) as well as in candidate countries are only administrative regions. It means that these regions are created by the central government which also defines their competencies. Therefore we can hardly expect that these states will be in favor of defining regional competencies on a European level.
When speaking about the vertical division of powers, one cannot forget the horizontal division of powers. The Declaration on the Future of the Euro-pean Union stated as one of the main issues within the Post-Nice process only the future role of the national parliaments in the European architec-ture. However, in my opinion, this question must be solved in the wider context, including the consideration on the role of the European parliamen-tarianism as a whole and the division of powers among the main European institutions, in particular in the framework of the triangle - Council, Com-mission and European parliament.
In consequence of the specific development of the European integration certain deformations occurred in particular between the legislation and exe-cution. The speed of the transfer of decision making to the Council has not been followed by the growth of the competencies of the European parlia-ment as the only directly elected European institution. Consequently legal acts at the European level are adopted in the Council consisting of the rep-resentatives of the national executive power. This is the essence of what is called democratic deficit of the European institutions. Therefore the elimi-nation of the democratic deficit will likely require the strengthening of the European parliament, not only the strengthening of the role of the national parliaments.
Foreign and Security Policy
Shortly after the beginning of the debate on the future of the EU, we all who deal with these issues, had to realize that this debate may not be
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duced only on the four questions defined in the Declaration on the Future of the European Union but it must remain open to other problems of Europe and the world.
The events that happened in the United States two months ago indirectly defined another point to this discussion - common foreign and security pol-icy and its further development. These events have united Europe more than ever before. Candidate countries share the common position of the European Union towards the fight against terrorism and in fact they act as if they were members of the European Union.
The most frequent reaction to the events of September 11th was the state-ment that the world would never be the same again. What does it mean in the conditions of the EU and in wider relations of future development of the world?
First and foremost, everybody had to realize the nature of the threats the world faces today and will face in the future. The traditional defense policy concentrated on the external enemy was overcome by the attack on the United States. Although the attack was organized from abroad, the fact is that the strike itself came from the heart of the USA. We all had to realize that the real enemy in the 21st century is not standing on our borders. He might live in the neighboring flat. The frontiers between the internal and external security policy in this context have disappeared. The real defense and security policy in the 21st century requires effective internal measures implemented and coordinated in the wide international cooperative frame-work. In the conditions of the European Union suitable prerequisites are created for that. The Union should only use them.
Another aspect in these relations consists in the responsibility of the EU for future development of the world. For centuries, Europe has been the centre of the world’s development, until it lost this position after two disastrous world wars. Therefore, when the common foreign and security policy of the EU was coming into being, the main intention of the EU was to regain its lost positions in the world and become a ”global player”. Today, when this policy is being developed, one must be aware of the European Union’s re-sponsibility for the future arrangement of the world.
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What the world needs now is political reconciliation and economic con-solidation. The responsibility of the European Union lies in the fact that the EU must be an example and prove that it is possible. If the idea of Euro-pean integration symbolizes something, it symbolizes these very values.
After the Second World War the idea of the European integration suc-ceeded in reconciliation of mortal enemies. Today, the idea of the European integration helps us to eliminate the last remainders of the Iron Curtain.
Since their establishment, the USA have been the lighthouse of freedom and democracy for those who have been looking for these values. The European Union could become a lighthouse of reconciliation and progress in the 21st century.
The United Nations Organization proclaimed the year 2001 a year of dia-logue among civilizations. At that time it could not have known what would happen in September 2001. European civilization is being united in the European Union. It is our common responsibility to successfully finish this process. The European Union could thereby become an example for other civilizations to find a common language and consequently become a subject of the dialogue among civilizations, a dialogue which could solve global problems.
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