|
Blair 'may block EU deal'
21/06/2007 14:25 - (SA)
Brussels - British Prime Minister Tony Blair faced a showdown with fellow European Union leaders on Thursday at his swansong summit, threatening to block a high-stakes EU deal if necessary.
The crunch Brussels summit, which comes days before Blair is due to stand down after a decade in power, risks being clouded by Britain's insistence on "red lines" on key policy areas in a new EU treaty.
Blair, who has long promoted engagement with Europe in the teeth of Britain's notoriously euro-sceptic lobby, has said he wants to strike a deal on the treaty to replace the bloc's doomed constitution.
But on the eve of the summit he made clear he will stand firm and not cede national control in four key areas: foreign policy, the judicial and police system, tax and social security rules, and an EU charter of fundamental rights.
"The prime minister reiterated those four red lines, and said that all four would have to be achieved otherwise he is prepared to walk away from a deal," his spokesperson told reporters hours before Blair's departure for Brussels.
Germany, which holds the six-month rotating EU presidency, is determined to use the Brussels summit to agree a framework treaty to replace the constitution that was rejected two years ago by voters in France and the Netherlands.
Stumbling blocks
But as the leaders began gathering in Brussels, the two main stumbling blocks appear to be Poland's insistence on more voting rights, and Britain's red lines.
Blair joined fellow EU leaders in 2004 in signing the EU's long-planned constitution, aimed at preventing decision-making gridlock in the expanding union.
Eighteen EU countries ratified it, but the historic blueprint was torpedoed by "no" votes in French and Dutch referendums in 2005, plunging the bloc into an unprecedented institutional crisis.
Now critics allege that EU leaders are trying to revive its main reforms, while simply dropping the word constitution.
Of Blair's four "red lines", observers say potentially the most difficult to find a compromise on will be the EU charter of rights.
Specifically Britain wants a guarantee that the charter - part of the original constitution - will not be allowed to override British law, for example threatening Britain's highly deregulated labour rules.
Gordon Brown will have his say
Most other EU states want the charter to have the full force of law. But Blair told the Times that he would "need to have it belt and braces bolted down that it (the EU charter) will not change British law".
One complication for Blair stems from the fact that, while he is representing Britain at the Brussels talks this week, it will be up to his successor Gordon Brown to deal with the consequences and finalise any deal.
Brown, who takes over from Blair next Wednesday and is widely seen as cooler on Europe, said on Tuesday that he would hold a referendum on the new EU treaty if necessary.
This appeared to highlight tensions between Blair and Brown over the EU negotiations, since Blair has repeatedly said he will not agree to anything that would require a popular vote in notoriously euro-sceptic Britain.
Blair told The Times on Thursday, however, that he had spoken to Brown every day on the subject of the summit, and said he will not leave Brown "in a position where he inherits something that he is unhappy with".
- AFP
|
News
