The composition of the nine-member reflection group in charge of anticipating the long-term challenges that the Union will face in 2030 is still uncertain.
The draft conclusions of the EU summit, seen by EurActiv, include a small paragraph dedicated to the launch of the reflection group. It appears between brackets, meaning that as yet there is no unanimity over the initiative.
According to diplomatic sources, the Council is still unable to make the list public because a consultation period led by the reflection group's chairman, former Spanish Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez, is not yet over. Among the countries represented in the draft list are France, Finland, Germany, Italy and Sweden, EurActiv has learned.
Significantly, there is no UK representative in the draft list, the source revealed. This could imply that initial concerns regarding the scope of the group's mandate remain valid almost a year after the initiative was launched at an EU summit in December 2007.
French President Sarkozy had originally wanted the reflection group to define the final borders of the EU, in what was seen by many as an attempt to block Turkey's future EU accession (EurActiv 17/12/07). But the UK and Eastern European countries, which are pushing for a further Eastern enlargement of the EU, are opposed to setting such limits. In addition, it appears that there is no East European representative as the name of the former president of Latvia, Vaira Viėe-Freiberga, does not appear on the draft list.
A Council spokesperson declined to comment.
Moreover, further hurdles may stand in the way. The 2007 December summit stated that the group "shall conduct its reflections within the framework set out in the Lisbon Treaty," which has been rejected by popular vote in Ireland in the meantime.
In spite of the Lisbon Treaty still being in trouble, the draft summit conclusions still mention that "the group will start work as of January 2009".
The draft conclusions do not contain any mention of the way forward regarding the Lisbon Treaty. Diplomats told EurActiv that Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen had in fact retracted from a previous commitment, contained in the June Summit conclusions, that he would come up with proposals for a solution as early as at the October summit.
Instead, Cowen is expected only to present a picture of "how the situation looks" and postpone the proposal on the way forward until the December summit, the sources said.
