EU: If the draft EU constitution is ratified by member- states, future changes to it should not require unanimity, the EU Commission President, Romano Prodi, suggests to Denis Staunton.
With less than a month to go before Ireland assumes the EU presidency, the Commission President, Mr Romano Prodi, is looking forward to seeing his old friends in Dublin. After the trauma of the Nice Treaty referendums, which caused one of the biggest headaches of his term in office, Mr Prodi could be forgiven for never wanting to set foot in Ireland again.
He insists, however, that Ireland's standing remains as high as ever within the EU and has high expectations for the Presidency.
"Ireland has a wonderful reputation. I always use Ireland as an example of successfully using Europe for national improvement that can be imitated by others," he said.
The Irish Presidency could inherit the task of finding agreement on a new constitutional treaty for the EU if next week's summit in Brussels fails to produce a deal. Mr Prodi is quietly optimistic about next week, suggesting that the summit has a two-thirds chance of success. The Commission would like the constitutional treaty to abolish national vetoes in almost all EU policy areas and to replace the complicated system of weighted votes in the Council of Ministers with a simple "double majority" - a majority of member-states representing a majority of EU citizens.
The final text is likely to be less ambitious but Mr Prodi is relaxed about the outcome, pointing out that many important changes have already been agreed, including the appointment of an EU foreign minister and more power for the European Parliament.
"Even if we make some compromises, there will be progress," he said.
The constitutional treaty was meant to be a settlement of the EU's constitutional question that would last a generation. Mr Prodi believes that the treaty could be a durable basis for the EU's future but only if it is possible to make amendments without seeking ratification in all member-states.
"For me, the most important problem is the revision of the constitution, the amendments. A constitution is a living body. The American experience tells us that the way a constitution becomes a living body, adapts to the changing conditions of a country, is through amendments. If you look at the American constitution, it is the history of amendments that have permitted the constitution to be so modern, so up to date even if it is old. I have the same type of proposition for the European Union," he said.
The draft constitutional treaty approved by the Convention on the Future of Europe would require treaty changes to be ratified by all member-states. If four fifths of the member-states approve the changes and one or more countries have difficulties, the matter would be referred to EU leaders to decide what to do next.
The draft text also contains passarelles, or bridging clauses, that would allow EU leaders to agree unanimously to abolish the national veto in some policy areas. Mr Prodi wants to go further, allowing a large majority of member-states to approve amendments, even if a minority oppose them.
"Democracy is not to obey the will of all the citizens. Democracy is to have all citizens having a voice and to decide with some rule and a majority of citizens. For the change of constitution, I think you must have a very high majority, a very qualified majority but in any case we must make the process of revision possible," he said.
Mr Prodi's proposal reflects the anxiety within the Commission that, in a union of 25 member-states, the requirement for unanimity is a recipe for paralysis. The Government insists that treaty changes must be approved by a full ratification process in all member-states and that decisions in certain policy must continue to require unanimity.
Mr Prodi agrees with the Government that many tax issues should be determined exclusively by member-states and that national governments should be free to set their own tax rates as long as they do not distort competition in the EU's internal market.
"There is no idea of interference with income tax, no possibility of interfering with real estate tax and so on. If you take VAT, it's clear that you must harmonise it. Otherwise, your internal market will become a mess. Harmonising doesn't mean that everything is the same because you have some differences even among American states but you must have some rules. Otherwise you'd better close the single market. We simply have to be coherent," he said.
Mr Prodi is also dismissive of calls by the Government and others for EU military missions to require the approval of all member-states.
"If a body, to take any decision, needs the unanimity of 25 member-states, you'd better forget it," he said.
Despite the difficulties he has faced in Brussels, Mr Prodi says that he enjoys the job more and more. It is clear that he would welcome a second term but he believes there is little chance that EU leaders will offer him one next summer.
As the darling of Italy's centre-left, Mr Prodi is widely expected to return home to challenge Mr Silvio Berlusconi in Italy's next general election in 2006. He does not rule out a return to Italian politics but says he has yet to decide.
"Next week, Italy will be halfway through the legislative period and there are two-and-a-half years before an election. Two-and-a-half years in politics are more than a century for a normal man or woman. I don't exclude going back to Italian politics but I have not taken a decision on it," he said.