BRUSSELS EUROPE shows muscles, Haider goes to the government all the same. And now? After exercising a right of interference in the internal politics of a Member State, yesterday the 14 governments of the Union passed to action by applying bilateral sanctions. A war of position opens up that can wear down Vienna or reveal the impotence of the partners. The most delicate position is for Prodi: he must prevent the paralysis of the Union that would be a success for Haider. Prodi, while preparing the text of the message he will send to the new Austrian government (and which will be X-rayed from all over Europe) tells us that the criticism of poor leadership seems to him “too easy”. The President of the Commission is guardian of the Treaties and must make the European institutions work. TREATIES and institutions do not provide for the absence of a state and without Austria would lose all decision – making power (it happened, in other circumstances, in 1965 – ’66 when De Gaulle made the policy of the “empty chair” to block integration). Hence the impossibility for the Commission to break off working relations with Vienna. Having to maintain pressure on Austria without excluding it, the appointments of the Union will be exposed to lacerating contradictions. At the first summit between heads of government, in Lisbon in March, we will probably see fourteen premieres smile together with Schuessel for the traditional family photo. Except rejecting the handshake. Before then there will be more embarrassing opportunities: at the top among Finance, Defense and Justice ministers will be attended by members of Haider’s party. The Austrians can be excluded only by informal leaders without decision-making power. Prodi is at the intersection of these contradictions. The socialist leader of the European Parliament Baron Crespo accused him of shyness on the case-Haider: “If you want the Commission to become the government of Europe, you must show more courage”. Up to the day before the chairman of the Commission had been criticized opposing rains: for talking about the European army, invited Gheddafi, proposed a meeting at Clinton before Seattle, some judged him too protagonist. On Austria Prodi fully shares the position of the 14, says “deeply concerned about the spread of xenophobic sentiments, which threaten the democratic foundations of a united Europe”. But he does not hide his worries for the post
The 14 are perfectly right on the diagnosis – he tells us – “but in politics the results count”, woe if the isolation of Austria should strengthen the xenophobic right. Prodi had a long conversation with President Klestil before the formation of the government. He encouraged him to give maximum publicity to the programmatic declarations on Europe, the enlargement to the East, respect for minorities. “When problems arise, that text will have great importance, and the role of the President of the Republic will be essential”. Prodi reminded Klestil of his firmness from Palazzo Chigi to Bossi, which in the long run gave results. “Even Haider is difficult to manage, he throws the stone and hides his hand”. To the accusations, Prodi replies that the European Commission has also taken “a political decision”, announcing that it will monitor compliance with Articles 6 and 7 of the Treaty of Amsterdam. The first lists the values ​​of the Union: democracy, human rights. Article 7 provides for sanctions up to the freezing of rights for a state that violates them in a “serious and persistent” manner. According to the President of the Commission “the minimum infringement against the smallest minority will be prosecuted”. Prodi’s message to Vienna – a customary act towards a new government of the Union – will be impregnated with the “special circumstances of the birth of that coalition”. And it will faithfully translate “the particular commitment that the Commission has expressed on the matter”. “We are telling the truth,” Prodi confides to us, “with his position the Commission has done a favor to the governments, and they have been able to take those bilateral decisions because they knew that Brussels still guarantees the functioning of the Union”. Since the expulsion of a State is not foreseen, the Union must “force the member countries to be faithful to its values”
Prodi knows he is moving on a narrow path. Commission supervision is a vague concept that must be applied in a new way. There are no special instruments of control over the Austrian Government’s acts. The supervisory powers of the Commission are erga omnes: they apply to Italy if it defeats the deficit, to France if there are road blocks contrary to the single market. On Austria there will be more attention, a different political sensitivity. And then the Commission is not the only European institution. There is the Council that brings together the governments: there the clashes are guaranteed. The first meeting is among foreign ministers, in Brussels in mid-February. It will be the test to observe which treatment the 14 will reserve – in a European office – to the Austrian. That summit is also crucial for another reason: it has to start the conference on major reforms. A historical undertaking, destined to end within the year with the new internal rules of the Union. The majority of votes by majority, a decision-making Europe is the goal. it is the condition to move on to the next stage, the enlargement to the East, without risking paralysis in an overly crowded Union. “Today I have to worry about this too”, concludes Prodi. The reform conference can not fail otherwise Haider would have won, he who campaigned against the countries of the East. But the firmness against Haider is a testing ground for the new candidates. They must know that Europe will welcome them without racist prejudices but will be implacable for respect for democracy and human rights. Prodi ventures on unexplored terrain: a political union that has made a sudden leap forward. A leap that paradoxically bears the signature of the nation-states, jealous of their sovereignty and allergic to Brussels interference.