Franco-German Contribution to
the European Convention on the Institutional Structure of the Union-II
The chairmanship of the General Affairs
Council, for instance, is held by the Secretary-General of the Council; the External
Relations Council is chaired by the European Minister of Foreign Affairs; the ECOFIN,
Eurogroup and JHA Councils elect their chairmen for two years from amongst their members.
The chairmanship of the other Council formations must be organized in such a way as to
guarantee the greatest possible participation of all the member States on the basis of a
strict system of rotation.
5. External activities of the Union
If Europe is to be strong and credible on the
world scene, the operational, financial and human means at its disposal must match its
political will. This requirement for coherence presupposes that the functions of high
representative and commissioner in charge of external relations be performed by the same
person, a European minister of foreign affairs.
The role of this European minister of foreign
affairs is strengthened compared to the present situation; he/she has a formal right of
initiative in the field of the Common Foreign and Security Policy and chairs the Council
of Ministers responsible for external relations and defence.
The European Council appoints the European
minister of foreign affairs by qualified majority voting in agreement with the President
of the Commission. The European minister of foreign affairs participates in that capacity
and as a member of the Commission with special status, in the meetings of the Commission.
The Commission does not take any decisions in CFSP matters.
With regard to the Common Foreign and
Security Policy, decisions are as a rule taken by qualified majority. However, those with
implications for security and defence are taken unanimously. If a member State invokes a
national interest in order to oppose a decision, the European minister of foreign affairs
is urged to work with it to seek a solution; if he/she does not succeed, the President of
the European Council does likewise; if no solution is found, the matter is referred to the
European Council with a view to it taking a decision by qualified majority voting.
The European minister of foreign affairs
relies on the support of a European diplomatic service in which the Commission's
directorate-general works together with a foreign policy unit which has to be created.
This includes the foreign policy services of the Council's secretariat and is strengthened
by civil servants sent by the member States and the Commission. The European diplomatic
service is working in close liaison with the diplomatic services of the member States. The
existing Commission delegations are converted into delegations of the European Union. This
set-up would provide a framework within which a European diplomatic service could emerge.
In the field of European security and
defence, it is desirable for all the Union member States to participate. Nevertheless,
there will be situations where all the member States will not be willing or prepared to
participate in cooperation projects or will not be in a position to do so. In this case,
those who so wish must be able to use the enhanced cooperation instrument for the CSDP.
6. National parliaments
The national parliaments have to be involved
to a greater extent in elaborating and supervising Union decisions: they are irreplaceable
links between citizens and the Union and help to create the feeling of belonging to Europe
as an integral entity. This is a sine qua non for democracy.
The national parliaments intervene in the
monitoring of the subsidiarity principle by means of an "early warning" system.
The national parliaments participate in the
future reforms of the treaties in a European Convention.
Without creating new institutions, a dialogue
has to be developed between members of the European Parliament and members of the national
parliaments, for example through the organization of an annual debate on the state of the
Union in the Congress. These meetings, which would be held in Strasbourg, would be chaired
by the President of the European Parliament.
Corsica: A treasure Island
Jean-Marie Homet, Journalist
The ancient Greeks called it
"Kalisti", the most beautiful. It is true that Corsica, " a mountain in the
sea", is a real anthology of all the wonders of the world. It has its own long
history and has also both witnessed and played its part in that of all the major countries
of the Mediterranean. Even so, is has a genuine identity of its own, and its culture,
although enriched by other cultures, has an astonishing variety of distinctive aspects. In
every season of the year, luminous and hospitable Corsica is a land of encounters,
amazement and wonder.
From a distance, approaching it by sea,
Corsica appears to be a series of mountain peaks, often snow covered, before revealing the
contours of its shore. With an average altitude of 680 meters, it is the highest island in
the whole of the Mediterranean. A veritable Alpine range rises to more than 2,700 meters
at Monte Cinto, and some forty peaks reach a height of over 2,000 meters. By a miracle of
geological formation and erosion, its contours contain all possible contours in miniature,
needles pointing towards the sky, the summits a striking white, jagged peaks sculpted by
the wind, steep-sided passes, gorges, broad, majestic cirques and lush green ridges; as
well as a world of lakes, rushing streams, water falls and rivers inhabited by trout.
All the landscapes of the world
These mountains were long used as a refuge by
the inhabitants whose shores were threatened by foreign incursions. They have led to the
development of an entire mountain economy sustained by shepherds, the emblematic figures
of the island. Today sheep tracks and footpaths run all over them. But these mountains
have never forgotten that they have their feet in the sea, and Corsica has always lived
too with the riches and splendors of the coast.
With its 1,047 Kilometers of coast line
Corsica is a summary of all the coasts in the world: deep gulfs, the perfumed scents of
the scrub, breathtakingly high white cliffs, red and ochre headlands, hidden rocky inlets
for which Maupassant was filled with admiration, golden sandy beaches and dunes with
sparse and unique vegetation.
Antoine de Saint-Exupery, who has flown over
so many of the world’s most beautiful and magnificent landscapes, wrote in Spring
1944, on his return from a mission shortly before his last trip: " Corsica. I feasted
my eyes on its wonderful gulfs of swirling agate, on its beaches, on its hidden creeks, on
its snow tipped mountains, its forests, its mysterious scrub, its streams and rivers, its
waterfalls and its thousand scents".
The island has been inhabited for more than
nine thousand years. Great megalithic art then blossomed throughout the island, as is
still evident in the box tombs, dolmens, standing stones and remarkable stone statues like
those at Filitosa. Later the Phoenicians, the Carthaginians and the Greeks established
trading posts on the coast and used the timber from its forests, in particular the great
woods of Tartagine, to build their ships. In the 3rd century BC the Romans founded towns
such as Aleria here. Corsica supplied Rome with oil, wine and oysters.
Millennia of History
Once the day of the Vandals and the
Byzantines were over, mediaeval Corsica was joined to Pisa by papal decree. Tehisland then
became covered with churches, chapels, convents, and new villages sprang up. It excited
the covetousness of the Genoese who seized it in the late 13thcentury. To assert their
presence, the Genoese built superb citadels by the sea: Calvi, Bonifacio, Bastia,
Saint-Rlorent, Porto-Vecchio, and Ajaccio. A complete network of roads was then
constructed those wonderful Gothic bridges and a little later the great towers along the
coast to protect the island from invaders. Cultivation of vines, olive and chestnut trees
expanded rapidly.
But the power of the Genoese was not
unanimously approved and there were a great many rebellions, as there were against the
many attempts by the Spanish, and the French too, to conquer the island. In 1567 the
Genoese authorities granted Corsica its own government and peace prevailed for a hundred
and fifty years. The Balagne was cultivated like a garden, the Agriates produced cereals,
the citadels by the sea became busy ports. Boroque art flourished in the tiniest villages
where the guilds built glorious chapels decorated with magnificent paintings.
In the 18th century, Corsica, under the
influence of the great island figure, Pascal Paoli, was tempted to seek independence. It
minted its own coins, set up a national printing works and established a university in
Corte. But the young State could not collect taxes, administer justice or provide itself
with an army, so Genoa appealed to France to help with the administration of the island.
In 1769 Napoleon Bonaparte was born in Ajaccio. After the turmoil of the revolution,
Corsica linked its destiny with that of France. Its sons took a very active part in
events, in the fate of the nation. Many gave their lives for it. Villages became
depopulated because of emigration and the slaughter due to wars. But Corsicans still
retain their rich culture and the wonders of their heritage.
An outstanding heritage
The flora and fauna here are the richest of
all the Mediterranean lands. It is impossible to forget the Laricio pine forest, the
species of the scrub, the mountain flowers, the dunes or the islands and islets that
surround Corsica; not to mention the osprey that glide over the cliffs of Scandola, a
World Heritage Site, the mouflons tackling the needles of Bavella, and the great flocks of
migrating birds making a brief stop on the surface of the vast coastal pools, on the East
coat. The regional nature reserve and Coastal Conservation area offer botanical walks and
place to watch birds and animals, over a third of the island and a good proportion of the
shore.
As luck would have it, the small paths and
some roads through the countryside often lead to a sheepfold, an old mill, a Genoese
bridge, tower or little fort built beside the sea, a real-life seascape, a lighthouse, a
Pisan chapel, a baroque church or even a viaduct built by Gustave Eiffel, and, of course,
to one or other of the island’s 365 villages. They are wonderful places to stop.
Standing on the heights, in place high as eagles’ nests, on rocky spurs or along a
ridge they always offer splendid views into the distance. They are just the right size for
everyone to know everyone else and to have an entire social, commercial and craft life at
their center. It is here you will fine the best cheeses, the best cooked meats, the best
pastries and cakes and can watch or join in the songs and the festivals.
In reality, the island has managed to
reconcile past and present. Festivals such as the "Cinema Mediterranean"
[Mediterranean film] (in November) and "Musicales" (in December) in Bastia,
"Jazz" (June) or "Wind" (October) in Calvi, "Polyphonies"
(July) in Balagne, "Rire" [Comedy] in Sartene, are eloquent testimony to this,
as are the two large museums of Corte and Ajaccio. The Ethnography Museum in the
island’s old intellectual capital presents 3,000 objects, tools, instruments and
articles of clothing associated with the history of the island and daily life in earlier
centuries. As for the Fesch museum, the wish and legacy of Napoleon’s famous uncle,
it offers art lovers one of the world’s finest collections of early Italian art, with
works by Botticelli, Tura, Boccati and a few masterpieces from more recent periods.
A walker’s paradise
It is enough to watch people dis-emberking
from those large white boats, sometimes very fast, which serve the island from Marseille,
Toulon, Nice, Genoa and Livorno, to realize that Corsica is a favorite place for all who
love walking, climbing, water sports in river or sea, scuba diving, mountain-biking,
parapenting, hang-gliding, horse-riding and even skiing in the winter months.
Major sports events take place throughout the
year: "Tour de Corse automobile" [motor race], "Corsica Bike"
(off-road cycling), " Tour de Corse en canoe-kayak’ [round-the-island canoe
race], "Corsica Raid Aventure" [Corsica adventure trek], etc. but above all it
is the young and not-so-young, people at all levels of fitness who so happily bring to
life the tours of solitude and beauty. Apart from the GR 20 [long distance footpath],
reserved for the most battle-hardened, the numerous foot-paths are accessible to all, well
sign posted and marked.
Riding centers, like Les Deux-Sorru, offer
unforgettable one or several day trips to the most beautiful lakes, with accommodation in
small chalets. Just as unforgettable are the wonderful ports and dream moorings that
welcome small and large leisure craft.
With its people, very much aware of their
traditions and their hospitality, its fabulous landscapes, its natural assets and cultural
heritages, Corsica, a little piece of France set in the Mediterranean, is the island of
all discoveries and all true delights.
( Courtesy: Label France Magazine N 44
July 2001. Embassy of France in Kathmandu). |
