Sharp behind-the-scenes bickering between big and small states at the Nice EU summit, with the Portuguese calling French proposals unfair and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder saying he was sick and tired of it all, emerged from a transcript published Saturday.
The newspaper El Pais published excerpts revealing particularly nasty rowing over reweighting of votes within the 15-nation European Union.
Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Guterras was quoted as attacking a French proposal as "unjust" and "discriminatory."
French President Jacques Chirac, hosting the gathering, was quoted as replying: "The big countries have come a long way. The little ones have pocketed all the gains."
"It makes me sick to hear all the complaints," Chancellor Schroeder is quoted as saying. "None of this has anything to do with the organization of Europe... I won't forget it in a long time. It's two in the morning and I can accept, but this doesn't promise anything good for the future."
President Chirac also said: "The big nations have already given in on the (European) Commission, they can't be asked to give in on everything. We've all got to make sacrifices and accept injustices."
Dutch Prime Minister Wim Kok complained during a debate on reforming the European Commission: "We're getting the same kind of treatment as Romania. It's unacceptable."
And Chirac replied: "Practically nobody has given an inch. To build Europe we must have will and vision, and the visionaries are tired... we're risking paralysis and anarchy."
Reforms passed at the marathon EU summit that ended in the pre-dawn hours Monday cleared the way for the European Union's eastward expansion.
The voting power of each member state on the council was re-weighted, roughly along population lines, to ensure newcomers a voice while avoiding chaos as the family of nations grows from its current 375 million to near half a billion with new members.
Each of the 15 had to give up something in the way of voting power or sovereignty to make it work. It took long days and nights of tough, sometime bitter wrangling.
The commission and the European Parliament were re-sized and seats assigned to candidates as they join.
The right of national veto in council voting was limited, substituting qualified majority voting in areas now requiring unanimity.
El Pais did not reveal how it got hold of the transcript of the EU summit proceedings -- MADRID (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
