Negotiating Flexibility in the European Union Also by Alexander Stubb THE EUROPEAN UNION: Reading on the Theory and Practice of European Integration (co-editor with Brent Nelsen) RETHINKING THE EU: IGC 2000 and Beyond (co-editor with Edward Best and Mark Gray) Negotiating Flexibility in the European Union Amsterdam, Nice and Beyond Alexander Stubb Adviser to the President of the European Commission and Professor, College of Europe, Bruges © Alexander Stubb 2002 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4LP. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2002 by PALGRAVE Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 Companies and representatives throughout the world PALGRAVE is the new global academic imprint of St. Martin’s Press LLC Scholarly and Reference Division and Palgrave Publishers Ltd (formerly Macmillan Press Ltd). ISBN 978-1-349-42679-9 ISBN 978-1-4039-0761-5 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9781403907615 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Stubb, Alexander C-G. Negotiating flexibility in the European Union: Amsterdam, Nice, and beyond / Alexander Stubb. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. European Union. I. Title. JN30 .S79 2002 341.242Ј2–dc21 2001058502 10987654321 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 To Suzanne and Emilie Contents List of Tables ix Preface x List of Abbreviations xiii 1 Introduction 1 Objectives 3 Methodology 4 Structure 5 Argument 7 Sources 9 2 The Nature of IGC Negotiations 11 The negotiating environment 13 The negotiating process 19 Negotiating styles 23 Conclusion 28 3 Definitions, Categories and Examples 30 The evolution of the theoretical and 34 political debate on flexibility Towards conceptual clarity 42 From multi-speed to transitional clauses 45 From variable geometry to enabling clauses 48 From à la carte to case-by-case and 52 pre-defined flexibility Conclusion 56 4 Negotiating the Amsterdam Treaty 58 The agenda-setting stage: from Corfu to Turin 61 The decision-shaping stage: from Turin to Dublin 73 The decision-taking stage: from Dublin to Amsterdam 84 Conclusion 102 vii viii Contents 5 Negotiating the Nice Treaty 106 The agenda-setting stage: from Cologne to Feira 108 The decision-shaping stage: from Feira to Biarritz 115 The decision-taking stage: from Biarritz to Nice 118 Conclusion: goodbye core, hello flexibility? 119 6 Assessing the Flexibility Clauses 123 Enabling clauses 123 Case-by-case flexibility 133 Pre-defined flexibility 134 Conclusion 142 7 Conclusion 144 Flexibility in the 1996–97 and 2000 IGCs: the process 145 Assessing the new system: the substance 153 Three IGC lessons: environment, process and style 161 Implications for European integration 163 Appendix 1: Literature on Flexibility since 1974 169 Appendix 2: List of Interviews 173 Appendix 3: Expert Group Hearings (1998) 176 Notes 179 Bibliography 182 Index 206 List of Tables 2.1 Responsibilities of the actors in the 1996–97 and 2000 IGCs 15 3.1 Definitions, categories and examples of flexible integration 32 4.1 Categorisation of Member States 72 ix Preface Political science must be based on a recognition of the interdependence of theory and practice, which can be attained only through a combination of utopia and reality. A concrete expression of the antithesis of theory and practice in politics is the opposition between the intellectual and the bureaucrat, the former trained to think mainly on a priori lines, the latter empirically. E.H. Carr (1939) I have always believed that the study of European integration, more than most sub-fields of political science, benefits from a symbiosis between theory and practice. The line between the academic and the policy world in European affairs has always been blurred. Mitrany, Deutsch, Spinelli, Haas and Monnet, among others, were in Carr’s terms both ‘intellectuals’ and ‘bureaucrats’. ‘Intellectuals’ because they tried to describe and explain the process of unifying separate nation-states. ‘Bureaucrats’ because their input inevitably shaped the development of the European polity. This book is a product of my academic and practical experiences of European affairs over the past decade. It would have been impossible to write the book without the support, help and criticism of many col- leagues from the world of academia and the world of EU bureaucracy. I am grateful to two mentors, Brent Nelsen and Aristide Tessitore, who planted the seeds of my intellectual engagement at Furman University (USA) in the early 1990s. I am also indebted to Simon Bulmer and Brigid Laffan, who, at the College of Europe (Bruges) in 1994–95, helped me to sort out my early ideas on flexible integration. During my two years, negotiating the Amsterdam Treaty at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland (1995–97) in Helsinki, and the two years of negotiating the Nice Treaty at the Permanent Representation of Finland in Brussels (1999–2001), I had the pleasure of working with Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen, President Martti Ahtisaari, Foreign Minister and later President Tarja Halonen, Europe Minister Ole Norrback, Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja and Europe Minister Kimmo Sasi. During this period a number of colleagues urged me to hone my ideas on flexibility. The book would have been much poorer without the x Preface xi countless discussions I had with Alec Aalto, Pekka Aalto, Piritta Asunmaa, Josephina Carvalho, Alex Ellis, David Galloway, Mark Gray, Torbjörn Haak, Ben Hall, Kare Halonen, Jean-Paul Jacqué, Pekka Järviö, Niilo Jääskinen, Heidi Kaila, Markku Keinänen, Jacques Keller, Reijo Kemppinen, Eikka Kosonen, Ricardo Levi, Lotta Lindegren, Pedro Lourtie, Jari Luoto, Arja Makkonen, Ingvar S. Melin, Kaisa Männistö, John Neary, Antti Peltomäki, Antti Pelttari, Michel Petite, Risto Piipponen, Mikko Puumalainen, Tuula Pynnä, Vijay Rangarajan, Timo Ranta, Olli Rehn, Jukka Salovaara, Antti Satuli, Fransisco Seixas da Costa, Jan Store, Cecilia Tamm, Pieter Van Nuffel, Sir Stephen Wall and Veronique Warlop. For comments on the whole manuscript I am indebted to the sharp pens of Fernando Alvargonzáles, Christian Deubner, Lykke Friis, Thomas Hagleitner, Niilo Jääskinen, Bobby McDonagh, Philip McGuin, Simon Nuttall and Helen Wallace. For comments on individual chapters I would like to thank Esko Antola, Marcus Bleinroth, Hervé Bribosia, Deirdre Curtin, Andrew Duff, Sylvie Goulard, Anders Hagelberg, Philip Hall, Heidi Kaila, Nikolaus Meyer-Landrut, Niels Ersbøll and Jo Shaw. I am especially grateful to Andrew Moravcsik and Eric Philippart for giv- ing me guidance on the theoretical parts of the book. This book has also benefited from a number of seminars, expert group hearings, interviews, round-table discussions, thesis projects and gen- eral discussions about flexible integration. I remain indebted to all the participants in these fora and would like to acknowledge the help of José María Beneyto, Christian de Boissieu, Claus-Dieter Ehlermann, André Gauron, Kay Hailbronner, Fiona Hayes-Renshaw, Simon Hix, Beate Kohler-Koch, Françoise de La Serre, Peter Leslie, Jörg Monar, Karlheinz Neunreither, Alberta Sbragia, Philippe de Schoutheete, Brendan Smith, Ulf Sverdrup, Wolfgang Wessels and Antje Wiener, in particular. The Finnish Academy, Alfred Kordelinin Yleinen Edistys- ja Sivistysrahasto, Helsingin Sanomain 100-vuotissäätiö, Suomen Yhdyspankin 125-vuotisjuh- lasäätiö, and the British Council provided generous financial support for the project. Without their help it would have been impossible to take the time off to write first the PhD thesis and then the book. My parents, Christel and Göran, have given consistent encouragement in both my academic and professional careers. I will always be grateful for the sacrifices they made and the opportunities they have created for me. My brother, Nicolas, provided the necessary computer expertise and taught me the value of having back-ups for my work. His sage advice pre- vented disaster when my computer was stolen half-way into the book. The advice and support of my PhD supervisor, Lord Wallace of Saltaire, was invaluable. Pushing me to improve my arguments and clarify my xii Preface thoughts, William Wallace was able to give me direction when things seemed to be going nowhere: for this I am extremely grateful. And, of course, the advantage of having one Wallace as a supervisor is that, in practice, you end up with two. Helen Wallace has been instrumental in developing my flexibility thinking from my time in Bruges to the pres- ent day. I can but extend her my warmest thanks. Finally, the most important person by my side throughout this project has been my wife, Suzanne Innes-Stubb. She, more than anyone else, has provided me with the emotional support for finishing the book. Suzanne is probably the only person who has read everything that I have ever written on flexible integration (not an enviable task, I might add). With the meticulous persistence of an EC lawyer she has worked through three different drafts of the book and offered me encouragement, advice and criticism – and much more. My gratitude for her help, love and sup- port remains understated here. The birth of our daughter, Emilie, on 27 October 2001 was the greatest day in our lives.