Notre Europe's viewpoint | 10/12/2008 

Time will be necessary to assess the lasting effects on the European Union's functioning of the crisis management which characterised the French Presidency. The imperative of action often appears (sometimes reasonably) to be a priority alongside respect for the fine balances between member states and institutions, which are so fundamental to the EU's operation. But whatever conclusions history draws, this French Presidency has clearly not lacked for welcome demonstrations of political will and leadership, in the face of an unprecedented succession of crises: institutional crisis with the Irish "no" to the Lisbon Treaty, geopolitical crisis with the Georgia conflict, and of course a financial crisis whose economic and social impact appears considerable.

The last European Council of a six-monthly presidency is often the moment for making assessments. The government holding the Union's Presidency likes to be able to claim progress on its priority dossiers. France will therefore need to explain what it has achieved in the areas of immigration, the agricultural-policy health check, the "energy and climate" package, and defence. A briefing will no doubt be added on the situation in the Caucasus, the prospects of ratifying the Lisbon Treaty and the future of Europe's economic response package and the resolutions of November's G20 meeting. As flattering as they might be for the incumbent presidency, these six-monthly assessments have little worth if they do not also facilitate a constructive handover to the two other presidencies of the trio, with which a common programme was agreed - in this case the Czech Republic and Sweden.

The necessity of the assessment is relative; that of decisions and action remains undeniable. Against this backdrop of historic urgency, we publish the declaration adopted by Notre Europe's Steering Committee, comprising major personalities and presided by Jacques Delors. The declaration calls for the launch of a "Eurobond" and underscores the high stakes of the forthcoming European Parliament elections in June 2009. Notre Europe also publishes a personal text by a member of the Steering Committee, Guy Verhofstadt on the financial crisis. Lastly, in order to keep attention focused on the importance of ratifying the Treaty of Lisbon in 2009, Notre Europe has asked the Irish expert Brigid Laffan to describe her feelings on ways to surmount the problem of the Irish "no".