As the Forum on Europe trundles on in Dublin Castle every Thursday, the good news for Eurocrats is that there is now likely to be an international forum as well. At next weekend's European Summit in Laeken, which marks the end of the Belgian presidency and the beginning, on January 1st, of Spanish tenure, one of the main items on the agenda is to establish a convention to discuss ways of making the EU more user-friendly. The new convention, which was suggested some time ago but became more urgent when the Republic rejected the Nice Treaty in June, will comprise parliamentarians from member countries. It is hoped the terms of reference, the timetable and the chair of the new body will be agreed next weekend. Names already mentioned include France's Jacques Delors, Belgian Jean Luc Dehaene, German Richard von Weizaker and our Peter Sutherland.
The convention will look at items for decision at the next Inter Governmental Conference (IGC) in 2004, at matters left over from Nice, such as the charter on human rights, how to simplify procedures, how to bring Europe closer to the people, and at subsidiarity - i.e. which things should be done at European, national, regional or local level. It will eventually produce a report, mainly on how to make the EU more popular to the masses, and Dublin is keen that it should be released in time for a lengthy debate before the 2004 IGC. Ireland will have the presidency for the first part of that year, so we may get a Treaty of Dublin after all, but the IGC is more likely to happen during the latter half, which means the Netherlands will have the honour, for the second time, of naming a treaty after one of its cities. Some governments feel the report should just be presented to the IGC and agreed without EU-wide debate.
That is what is planned for Laeken, but events have ways of taking over the agenda. The Middle East and Afghanistan will feature but if the Austrians raise the issue of the nuclear power plant in the Czech Republic, as is anticipated, the Irish will raise Sellafield.