Warnings and encouragement ahead of Brussels four-way summit

Christian Democrat Elmar Brok, President of the European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs, Human Rights and Common Security and Defence Policy, hopes that the four countries participating in the defence summit in Brussels on Tuesday (Belgium, France, Germany and Luxembourg) will enlarge their club to countries that took differing views during the war in Iraq, saying it was important not to give the impression that the summit has an aftertaste of anti-US feeling and is aimed at opposing the Atlantic Alliance. He called on the four countries to invite countries like Spain, the Netherlands and Poland to join them, adding that European initiatives on defence are only reasonable if they fit into the framework of the European Union using the reinforced cooperation method.

The President of the EPP-ED group, Hans-Gert Pottering, made a similar warning, seeing the initiative as a mistake because of its method in a press release. He regretted thatBelgium, a country which has always defended the Community method, had organised the summit for tactical reasons before the 18 May general elections. The CDU MEP warned the countries concerned not to form their own club and regretting that such a club might be formed from countries that had taken an attitude during the Iraqi crisis that had had a great impact on transatlantic relations. Saying he was convinced of the need to put defence at the heart of European policy, he called on the institutions, particularly the Commission, not to leave the initiative to individual Member States but tot take a Community initiative itself, as quickly as possible after the 29 April summit.

The President of the Liberal group at the EP, Graham Watson, welcomed Guy Verhofstadt's initiative, "history shows that progress in European integration often comes form the creative tension arising from a crisis and small groups of countries showing the way forward to others". The British MEP said the summit "will serve as a catalyst for change provided that the objectives are clear and the tried and trusted EU method is applied and the project remains open to all European countries which are willing and able to participate. The summit should not dwell on recent differences over Iraq and transatlantic relations, not allow these to stand in the way of progress."

Professor Werner Weidenfeld of the Bertelsmann Foundation said the summit was sending out the right signal and could provide a stimulus for the Common Defence Policy. He said it "is clearly preferable to make significant progress in a small group than to wait for timid moves in a large group". He said the Brussels summit could provide long-term benefits to the EU as a whole only if it succeeds in providing a new stimulus for integration setting the sage for the need to define the crucial features of a European Defence Union, with a commitment to mutual military assistance, the establishment of joint armed forces under a joint high command and a common armaments market on the basis of a timetable resembling that for EMU; the European Convention should be asked to incorporate into the constitution the preconditions for the realisation of the European Defence Union within the EU framework.

The flexibility instrument will have to be amended and the single market regulations which are of importance for a common armaments market. The alternative to a development of the treaty provisions must be spelled out, in analogy to the Schengen model, with mechanisms designed to facilitate integration into the treaties at a later date.