Euro vision a good deal clearer now
AS the British presidency of the European Union comes to a close at the end of the year, the fact that Britain ever held the six-month presidency will have gone unnoticed by most people, coming and going in the blink of an eye. Also unnoticed by the vast majority as they went about their daily business was the fact that Edinburgh was very much involved in the presidency, holding meetings which included a social services conference in July, a criminal justice conference in September and a Committee of the Regions meeting this month. Tony Blair was criticised at home for giving away too much, surrendering £1 billion a year of the British rebate, and criticised in Europe for not giving it away earlier. The rebate won by Margaret Thatcher at Fontainebleau in 1984 had the virtue of simplicity, giving back to the UK two-thirds of the difference between what it pays in and what it gets out of the budget. But at some stage, it had to come to an end or be modified, and everyone knew it. The issue was how and when, and by how much. In the end, Mr Blair got a review of EU spending before the budgetary envelope ends in 2013 - and had to give up some of the increases in the rebate which will rise anyway as the overall budget goes up. It was a patched-up sort of affair with no great passion behind it. At least a deal was done and the British Government can claim this as an achievement along with the agreement to start accession talks with Turkey, which it championed, as well as Croatia, enhancing stability in a region which a mere decade ago was ravaged by war. In fact, history will probably judge the decision over Turkey - if it leads to Turkish membership - as far more significant than another budget deal cobbled together in the small hours. In addition, agreement was reached on telephone and e-mail data retention to tackle terrorism, and the EU also got its first real counter-terrorism strategy. The UK, on behalf of the EU, also helped get an agreement in Montreal to set new emissions targets when the Kyoto treaty expires, and crucial EU backing was given to a UN agreement on protecting civilians from genocide.
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