No jargon in Berlin declaration, says Merkel

Berlin declaration: German chancellor Angela Merkel has pledged to draw up a "people-friendly" declaration to commemorate the…

Berlin declaration:German chancellor Angela Merkel has pledged to draw up a "people-friendly" declaration to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the EU.

But she has also acknowledged that there are tensions between EU states over the content of the text, and particularly whether future enlargement of the union should be highlighted.

After holding discussions with EU leaders on the basic outline of the Berlin declaration, Dr Merkel said there was complete agreement that it should be addressed to the people of Europe and not written in the usual jargon.

It should address the "successes of the past and the tasks of the future in an intelligible way", and outline the basic values of the EU, including the triumph over dictatorship. The declaration should also address future challenges such as climate change, competitiveness and the social coherence of Europe, added Dr Merkel, who will present the text for signature by all 27 EU leaders in Berlin on March 25th.

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Berlin hopes the declaration can create the momentum to persuade member states to sign up to a new EU institutional agreement to replace the EU constitution, which was rejected by French and Dutch voters in 2005. However, she admitted there were differing views in Europe over a number of controversial issues, such as whether future enlargement or the EU constitution should be mentioned in the text.

New member states from central and eastern Europe, such as Poland and Slovakia, strongly favour further enlargement, while in western Europe there is greater scepticism about admitting new states.

"If the presidency chooses to have future enlargement in the text, then it should also talk about the integration capabilities of the union, " said a French diplomat.

Also being debated is whether a reference should be made to the EU constitution. Berlin was initially seeking to refer to the need for a constitutional settlement by 2009. But several EU states that oppose introducing the constitution - the UK, the Czech Republic, France and the Netherlands - oppose a direct reference to the need for a constitutional settlement in the declaration.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said EU leaders had agreed there would be no reference to the constitution. Instead, a reference would be made to the need for further "institutional reform" of the EU.

He also hinted that Berlin was moving towards a shorter text on an institutional agreement.

"There is no problem about slimming down the treaty and doing annexes - we said that at the time. If that's agreement, we have no difficulties about doing that," he said. "Once we don't change away from the substance, it just means we are presenting the documents in different formats. My problem would be if they changed the balance."

Another issue of debate is whether the EU's Christian heritage should be mentioned. Poland says yes, while France opposes a reference.

"I raised an issue of Christian values in the Berlin declaration," said Polish president Lech Kaczynski at the summit. "This is a historical fact - Christianity was at the roots of Europe. But it is not widely accepted."

However, EU diplomats said after the summit that they did not now expect a major schism over the declaration's wording.