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EU Starts To Cure Itself Of Summit Fever

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  • EU Starts To Cure Itself Of Summit Fever

    EU STARTS TO CURE ITSELF OF SUMMIT FEVER

    FT
    April 2, 2009 2:53pm

    Just as sunny weather has come to Brussels for the first time this
    year, so have the first signs that the European Union is weaning itself
    off its addiction to ever more frequent summits. True, today's G20
    event in London is the mother of all summits, and there are plenty
    of Europeans at it (too many, some non-Europeans might say).

    But other planned summits are being downgraded or won't be particularly
    grand occasions. Back in February Mirek Topolanek, the recently
    deposed Czech premier, announced he intended to hold two emergency
    anti-recession summits - one to uphold the EU's free trade and single
    market principles against the threats of protectionism and economic
    nationalism, and the other on employment. The first meeting took
    place in Brussels on March 1 and didn't get good reviews from summit
    critics in the European media.

    Perhaps that's why the employment summit, which is due to be held in
    Prague next month, will be a much scaled-down event - heads of state
    and government won't attend. Topolanek's status as a lame-duck leader
    who lashes out undiplomatically at US economic policies doesn't help,
    either.

    Meanwhile, there are doubts about another summit pencilled in for
    Prague on May 7 to launch the Eastern Partnership, an EU project
    to build closer ties with Armenia, Azerbaijan,=2 0Belarus, Georgia,
    Moldova and Ukraine. Senior Czech officials have told their EU partners
    that the event may be held in Brussels rather than Prague.

    Why? No clear explanation has emerged, but again it's probably
    connected to the brittle political situation in the Czech Republic
    since the eurosceptic President Vaclav Klaus engineered the collapse
    of Topolanek's government.

    Summit fever seized the EU during France's six-month presidency from
    July to December last year. More summits were held in those six months
    than in any equivalent period of the EU's history. Arguably, French
    President Nicolas Sarkozy was right to convene these summits, because
    the matters at issue - the Russia-Georgia war, the global financial
    crisis - were momentous indeed. But with the Czech EU presidency,
    one gets the impression that they felt a need to emulate Sarkozy's
    hyperactivity rather than appraise the need for extra summits with
    a cool head.

    In any event, Sweden, which will take over the EU presidency on July 1,
    has already made its intentions clear: there'll be no emergency summits
    while Stockholm is in charge unless there is a truly compelling need.

    April 2, 2009 2:53pm in Czech Republic, Financial crisis, Foreign
    policy, Sarkozy, Sweden | Comment
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