The Start of the Second Stage of the Negotiations - the French Presidency
The Start of the Second Stage of the Negotiations - the French Presidency
The Hungarian party has articulated its intent and aspirations, the essence of which were the beginning of a “new quality” phase in the negotiations. The bottom line was basically how to transcend the technical and formal nature of the first round of talks and how to start negotiations in earnest. It is necessary, even for the simplest looking problems, that all the 15 member states react to the candidate’s requirements in a tangible manner. During the first phase the reactions of the EU on all the cases could be put into three categories: we should withdraw the request; we should provide supplementary information; we should get back to the question. In order to achieve progress, Hungary proposed the use of three “techniques”. First of all, in light of the aforementioned new quality, compromises should be made - at least in the simpler cases - and a solution found for at least certain specific negotiation topics. The other method could involve - in the case of chapters reviewed practically completely - the isolation of problems that have been left after several rounds but can be solved at a later time, i.e., they are frozen, clearing the table and making the agenda more structured, more transparent. The third technique could be applied to the most complex cases. Be it environment, transport policy or primarily agriculture, these cover such a mass of acquis and so many topics that their review would necessitate several rounds of negotiations.
Undoubtedly, the number-one priority during the term of Paris was the successful conclusion of the intergovernmental conference. Success in Nice was fundamental in terms of starting the enlargement, but the success of the IGC does not constitute a final solution to the institutional package, on the contrary, the reform process continues. In the beginning the French government treated the enlargement negotiation chapter with some caution. Prime Minister Jospin first outlined the orientation points of the presidency in a speech delivered to the National Assembly on 9 June. Only at the end of the speech, did he - very briefly - acknowledge the expectations of the candidate countries, the fact that many had been expecting substantial results from the French presidency, i.e., a schedule for accession or at least a clear methodology needed to conclude the negotiations, and hoped that France would be ready to provide these answers. At the end of the 14 July ministerial rounds, the representative of the presidency spoke about increasing the dynamism of the talks, the debut of a “new quality” round of negotiations and the drafting of a “vue d’ensemble”, which would encompass all the problems. On 4 July, President Jacques Chirac promised the European Parliament that the French party would speed up the talks, based on the individual merits of the candidates and the tangible use of the principle of differentiation. As a result of all this the Council can in Nice draw a picture encompassing the status of the whole talks, based on which it is able to visualize a road map which can serve as a guideline for the next presidency. It was more or less decided that there will be an assessment made for every candidate and every chapter (vue d’ensemble, scoreboard). It was mentioned several times that by the end of the French presidency as well a road map (schema d’etapes, Fahrplan) could be drafted, which would outline the key stages and elements of the negotiations up to the end along with the methodologies that could help bring the conclusion closer.
The number of accession rounds was the usual (two deputy and one ministerial level meeting). Besides the evident priority of the institutional reforms, the French presidency also strove to lend a new quality to the talks after the conclusion of the first round. Hungary did not expect that the most difficult chapters could be opened in earnest during this half of the year. It was justifiably expected that bargaining will finally start on the easier, so-called “soft” chapters, that is a debate which will ultimately lead to the first compromise agreements, in which the EU will not always veto requests but occasionally consent to them. This was indispensable for progress, because there were no more chapters, which had at least one or two tangible problems or temporary derogation requests, left on the table. On the other hand, solving simpler matters made it possible to clear the table, and make the list of outstanding issues more transparent and structured.
The “chief negotiator” level round on 5 October (the ninth in all) had four chapters on the agenda. The “Energy” chapter was closed temporarily, which is quite an important result taking into account that this is a highly sensitive issue for the EU and some of the members. The Hungarian positions were improved by the fact that the preparedness of the country in respect of strategic reserves and nuclear safety is adequate, and the required investments can be made before accession. Preparations have also been started to open the market in light energy market deregulation. The lack of adequate programs for preparation and tangibly problematic issues led to the temporary closing of the chapter. The “External relations” chapter was also filed under the “no further negotiations needed at this stage” category, where there was a formula developed which allowed the review of the original Hungarian requirement as a result of expert level talks initiated by the Hungarian party.
An agreement was reached on the issue of trademarks in the “Corporate law” chapter, thus there remained only one outstanding issue: appropriate certification of the protection of pharmaceuticals. Considering the fact that talks on the “Free movement of goods” chapter were also closed, with the exception of the pharmacopoeia, it could thus be stated that the chapter was ready to be “frozen”, meaning that the chapter required no further discussions at this stage with the exception of one item. (The strategic document on enlargement, published on 8 November, actually suggested the introduction of a “set aside” category.)
A new round of talks were held following the submission of supplementary information for the “Taxation” chapter, but the multitude of problems (lower VAT, dividends tax, and distillation by subcontractors) still call for further talks in spite of the progress achieved.
The next deputy level rounds (16 November) had a short agenda, with two chapters: “Social policy and employment” and the “Free movement of services”. In the latter progress had been made in several areas (i.e., Hungarian Development Bank, Eximbank) but several others needed further treatment. Some problems have to be solved in the context of this chapter (Investment Protection Fund, minimum capital requirements of savings banks) but there are other discussion topics (mortgage institutions’ land ownership, restriction of the export of capital by insurance companies) which are rooted in other chapters, namely the one on the “Free movement of capital”.)
The closure of the “Social policy” chapter was a major achievement. The topic covers a very wide range of issues (from labor law, through non-discrimination to safety in the workplace), still there were two questions which received significant attention. This was the first time the EU accepted the Hungarian request for derogation in its original form. The Hungarian request pertaining to the tar content of cigarettes was especially important for social or labor-related reasons, since an amendment without derogation would have endangered about 15,000 tobacco farmers in the poorest regions of the country.
Special attention was devoted to the problem of social dialogue within the chapter. This topic is at the forefront of debate in Hungary. Overall the European Union was on the opinion that the institutional framework for social dialogue was in place, but significant efforts were needed in order to make them operate efficiently. The Commission would pay special attention to the developments in the future, that is to say “monitoring” will be activated.
These were chapters which had been on the agenda of the ministerial level rounds planned for 5 December, and which were supplemented with the chapters on environment and transport policy. It seems that the shift towards “new quality” had started, although a real breakthrough will most probably happen at the beginning of the Swedish presidency only. The negotiation table had however become “tidier” because half of the chapters require no further discussion at the moment, and significant progress had been achieved in a further 3 to 5 chapters.
