Economy takes back seat as leaders talk foreign policy

EU leaders will focus on international affairs when they meet in Brussels today (16 September) rather than hammering out new budget surveillance measures as originally envisaged.

Earlier this year it had been expected that a task force on economic governance, chaired by European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, would set out a blueprint for closer monitoring of national finances at today's summit.

However, progress has been slower than expected due to disagreements over how far the EU is willing to go on sanctioning errant member states.

Van Rompuy is now expected to give an oral update on the work of the task force rather than presenting a written paper. The president's staff had drafted a progress report, but it was decided that a looser discussion would be preferable as member states are not yet prepared to sign off on detailed economic governance architecture.

In addition, question marks remain on how to coordinate the task force's recommendations with the EU executive's communication on economic governance, which is due for publication on 29 September.

The Commission has promised that its forthcoming paper will include proposals on "incentives and sanctions," but discussions are ongoing as to whether it would be appropriate for the Commission to pre-empt Van Rompuy's task force report, which is now not expected until the October European summit.

The EU executive has the "right of initiative" when it comes to proposing new European legislation, so the wrangling over who takes the lead on economic governance is seen as a test of how the EU institutions work in the post-Lisbon Treaty era.

Now, with the immediate pressure of the eurozone crisis having receded – at least temporarily – leaders and foreign ministers will instead look at Europe's relationship with strategic partners and the EU's position in major international forums such as the G20, the IMF and United Nations climate change talks.

While this can be seen as a necessary debate, there are tensions between Van Rompuy and EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton on the timing of the discussion.

Diplomatic sources say Ashton has argued that insufficient preparation has been made at the Foreign Affairs Council on some of the issues added to the agenda, while Van Rompuy's services are grumbling about the pace of progress on international relations.

With neither Van Rompuy's task force nor Ashton's foreign affairs dossier looking mature at this stage, this is fast-becoming the summit nobody wanted.

"We believe the right rhythm for European Councils is four a year," said a senior diplomat from a large EU member state. "And we are not yet convinced there is a need for more."

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