Schroeder's Europe

摘要

Germany's chancellor, Gerhard Schroeder, is right to take the lead in the great debate about the European Union's constitutional future (see page 41). He is right to single out as the eu's worst feature its failure to win the loyalty or interest of its citizens. He is right to demand a clearer division of the eu's powers. He is right, and bold, to suggest a repatriation of much of agricultural and regional policy to the countries that make up the Union. He is right, too, to declare that the eu must sharpen up its ways of collective decision-making as it expands from its present membership of 15 to as many as 27. The new intake may start as early as 2004, when a new constitutional arrangement for the eu, if not a new constitution, should, according to the treaty signed in Nice last December, be ready. And he is right not to be coy about asserting Germany's weight. There is just one unfortunate aspect to Mr Schroder's party document, which was leaked over the weekend: a lot of it is cock-eyed.