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A flock of birds...
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EDITORIAL |
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Overreaction
This is not the first time that the government - Costas Simitis's administration in particular - has reacted sharply to the release of a public survey. Furthermore, this is not the first time that PASOK has seemed to be trailing New Democracy by a large margin - without this provoking any response save expressions of confidence that the governing party will bounce back by the time of the election. |
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COMMENTARY |
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National ego
The EU summit starting today is due to discuss three issues that show the difficulty of overcoming national interests for the sake of European integration. First is the question of decision making. The 2000 Nice Treaty specified each member state's voting power, but impractically. Spain and Poland, which now threaten to veto the new constitution, were given 27 votes each, compared to 29 for Germany and France, which are much bigger. Voting rights should not be reduced to the population criterion, but this should be taken into account.
Under the draft convention, decisions must be approved by a majority of member states also representing at least 60 percent of the total EU population. Madrid and Warsaw must not let their national egos torpedo this balanced solution.
A second issue concerns the makeup of the European Commission. The «one country, one commissioner» principle could create practical problems but will give smaller states the sense of enjoying an equal say in the Commission. Politically speaking, this is important as it will reinforce the bloc's cohesion. |
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