EUROPEAN COMMISSION FORWARD STUDIES UNIT Harnessing Differentiation in the EU­ Flexi bi lity after Amsterdam. Hearings with Parliamentarians and Government Officials in Seven European Capitals A Report by Christian Deubner Edited by Thomas Jansen ' LU LU SWP 0 Forward studies Unit EUROPEAN COMMISSION FORWARD STUDIES UNIT HARNESSING DIFFERENTIATION IN THE EU - FLEXIBILITY AFTER AMSTERDAM A Report on Hearings with Parlamentarians and Government Officiafs in Seven European Capitals Christian Deubner Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, Ebenhausen WORKING PAPER, 2000 The contents of this publication do not necessarily reflect the opinion or position of the European Commission. Table of contents PREFACE ............................................................................................................................................... 5 INTRODUCTION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................................... 7 RESULTS: .............................................................................................................................................. 8 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND CAVEATS ...................................................................................... 11 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: ................................. ; ...................................................................................... 11 CAVEATS: ........................................................................................................................................... 11 PART ONE: THE FACTUAL EVIDENCE ....................................................................................... 13 I. GENERAL AIMS ......................................................................................................................... 13 II. QUESTIONS ASKED .................................................................................................................... 14 1. Treaty Clauses and Early Debate ........................................................................................ 14 2. Choice ofInstitutions to be Questioned ............................................................................... 16 a. Member State Governments and Parliamentary Assemblies .............................................................. 16 b. The European Commission ................................................................................................................. 16 3. Thematic Organisation ofthe Hearings .............................................................................. 17 III. ANSWERS GIVEN BY NATIONAL AND EU-PARLIAMENTARIANS AND OFFICIALS ....................... 18 1. Order ofPresentation: From the Apparent to the Speculative; From Immediate Legal Obligation to Possibilities ofNew Behaviour ............................................................................... 18 2. Legal Effects under the Amsterdam Treaty .......................................................................... 19 a. Predetennined Results as of 1998/9 .................................................................................................... 19 (I) Free Movement of Persons, First Pillar .................................................................................... 19 (a) Free Movement Legislation Transferred from the Third Pillar ................................................ 21 (b) Schengen .................................................................................................................................. 21 (i) The Potential Fragmentation of the Schengen Acquis ........................................................ 22 (ii) Conditionality ..................................................................................................................... 23 (iii) The European Commission ............................................................................................ 24 (2) Predetennined IEC in the Maastricht Treaty: EMU ................................................................. 25 (a) Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 25 (b) Member State Positions ............................................................................................................ 29 (i) ECB Issues .......................................................................................................................... 29 (ii) Council Issues, Euro·l I ...................................................................................................... 30 (a) The European Commission ............................................................................................ 31 (iii) FEC versus IEC ............................................................................................................. 32 (iv) Economic Issues ............................................................................................................ 32 (a) The European Commission ............................................................................................ 32 b. New Future Behaviour Made Possible Under the Treaty .................................................................... 33 (I) Case by Case: 'Constructive' Abstention in Common Foreign and Security Policy ................ 33 (a) Common Foreign Policy .......................................................................................................... 33 (b)Common Defence Policy, Including WEU .............................................................................. 36 (c) The European Commission ...................................................................................................... 38 (2) Enabling ................................................................................................................................... 39 (a) Third Pillar ............................................................................................................................... 39 (i) Enabling in Schengen and Related Matter .......................................................................... 39 (ii) Police Cooperation and Judicial Cooperation in Criminal Matters ..................................... 39 (b)First Pillar ................................................................................................................................. 40 (i) The European Commission ................................................................................................. 40 (ii) Enabling in the Schengen Context and the New Title IV - Visas, Asylum, Immigration and other Policies Related to Free Movement of Persons ............................................................... 41 (iii) Judicial Civil Law Matters in the First Pillar ................................................................. 42 (iv) Internal Market Matters in the First Pillar ...................................................................... 43 ( v) The European Commission ................................................................................................. 44 (vi) Synopsis .......................................................................................................................... 44 (vii) Economic Policy Coordination ...................................................................................... 44 c. Legal Obligations of IEC and Member States .... :............................................................................... 44 (I) The Quality of Legal Obligations Resulting from IEC Engagements of Member States ......... 44 (2) New Members Acceding to the Union ..................................................................................... 47 PART TWO: INTERPRETATION ..................................................................................................... 49 THE ROLE OF ENABLING !EC IN THE CONTEXT OF EU DECISION-MAKING STRUCTURES .................... 49 IV. MOTIVATIONS FOR INTRODUCING ENABLING IEC IN THE FUTURE ........................................... 49 1. Acceptability ........................................................................................................................ 50 2. Policy Lines and Major Goals ............................................................................................. 50 a. Eastern Enlargement ............................................................................................................................ 50 (I) The European Commission ...................................................................................................... 51 b. Changing the Institutional Framework of Integration Politics ..................... :...................................... 52 (I) Deepening of European Integration .......................................................................................... 52 (a) The European Commission ...................................................................................................... 53 (2) Improvement of Effectiveness for European Integration Policy .............................................. 53 (a) The European Commission ...................................................................................................... 54 (3) What Kind of Enhanced Cooperation for Which Member State? ............................................. 55 (a) The European Commission ...................................................................................................... 58 (b) In Place of a Summary ............................................................................................................