EU Declaration Criticized

A highlight of this weekend's celebrations marking the 50th birthday of the European Union will be the signing of the so-called Berlin Declaration on the future of the EU. On Sunday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and European Parliament President Hans-Gert Pöttering will sign the statement.

Germany, which currently holds the rotating EU presidency, has said it hoped the declaration could focus the bloc's 27 leaders' minds on the way forward. But it has not been welcomed by everyone.

In a debate in the German Bundestag on Thursday, opposition parliamentarians criticized the run-up to the declaration. But all agreed that the European Union was a necessary institution.

"If Europe didn't exist, we would urgently have to invent it," said Guido Westerwelle, head of the opposition Free Democratic Party (FDP). "And if Europe hadn't resulted in more than 50 years of peace for us, it would have been worth it."

But the free-market liberal FDP and the other major opposition factions were not happy about the Berlin Declaration, prepared by EU representatives behind closed doors. They said the government was pursuing "secret diplomacy" in setting up the document.

Europe should be for the people

Westerwelle said it would be appropriate to inform the parliament about the state of affairs, just hours before the declaration is to be signed.

"After all, we do not want a Europe of heads of government," Westerwelle told parliament on Thursday. "It is a Europe of the people -- and the people's representatives are sitting here."

But the European Union is still a Europe of government leaders, according to existing agreements -- and they could be annoyed if the declaration to be officially unveiled this weekend is already picked apart in German parliament.

The EU constitution is supposed to make Europe more democratic and parliamentary. But voters in France and the Netherlands rejected it in referendums in 2005 and it has been put on the back burner since then.

Europe needed a social dimension

The German government now wants to make a new attempt for a EU constitution, said Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier. But he said nothing about whether this will be mentioned explicitly in the Berlin Declaration. He just expressed commitment to further integration.

"In other words: in the loud ringing of a globalized world, Europeans will only be heard if we speak with one voice," Steinmeier said. "We can only effectively represent our interests if we act together. And I believe this is precisely what citizens expect from responsible European politics."

Gregor Gysi, head of the opposition Left Party faction, said the EU constitution had failed in its first attempt because the French and Dutch perceived the EU as a neoliberal project, which lacked a social dimension.

"Now, they're thinking about tricks how to wangle things without a referendum," Gysi said. "That is not the solution."

According to Gysi, a shorter and clearer constitution needed to be developed, which increased citizens' rights. All member states should then have referendums on the document and the majority should approve it in every country, he said.

"Then, it is accepted and this would also be a democratic improvement in Europe," Gysi said.

"Europeans are questioning themselves."

For Renate Künast, head of the opposition Green Party faction, the European Union could no longer just represent the industry's short-term interest in profits.

"Rather, it really has to say: in the next 50 years, we will build a social and ecological Europe," Künast said. "And we want to shine just as much there as we do in the peace project Europe."

But all factions in parliament agreed that Europe needed a constitution -- and that this constitution had to answer the question of a European identity, said Andreas Schockenhoff from the conservative Christian Democrats.

"The larger and more unclear the EU becomes, the more people ask themselves: what constitutes the European Union, why do we need it, wherein does the European Union remain true to itself in view of permanent change and distinguishable from the others," Schockenhoff said. "Europeans are questioning themselves."