Two cheers for Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi may be a crook and he may be subverting Italian democracy but you've got to hand it to the man-he's certainly livening up European politics. Naturally enough, MEPs lined up to denounce his comparison of one of their number to a concentration camp commandant. But as soon as the television cameras were turned off, the solemn airs were dropped and an atmosphere of hilarity reigned in the parliamentary bars of Strasbourg.
That said, there was one man who clearly derived no enjoyment at all from the Berlusconi gaffe-his deputy prime minister, Gianfranco "postfascist" Fini. For the past year Fini has been trying to rescue his reputation around Europe, by playing the responsible statesman as Italy's representative at the constitutional convention. Unfortunately for him, he was sitting right next to Berlusconi in the parliament, when his boss strayed so unfortunately from his prepared text. Instinctively, Fini reached for his cigarettes. Then he realised that he couldn't smoke inside the parliamentary chamber, so instead he started smelling his cigarettes. Finally, either nicotine deprivation or dismay at Berlusconi's antics got the better of him and he stalked out of the chamber before the debate had even finished.
Still, the Italian prime minister himself is, at least outwardly, unabashed. Just a couple of days after his hit performance at the European parliament he hosted a lunch in Rome for the European commission, which is of course headed by Romano Prodi, his arch political enemy. Halfway through the lunch he invited two of the most attractive female commissioners (Margot Wallstr?m and Anna Diamantopoulou) into a side room. There he introduced them to an aide who regaled them with an excellent impersonation of Prodi.
Tears for Europe
Another good place to be a fly on the wall was the closing ceremony of the constitutional convention. Rather to the surprise of many delegates, Beethoven's 9th (you remember, the European anthem) was cranked out-at a weedy volume-from the parliamentary sound system. A few people refused to stand, including, rather surprisingly, several employees of the European commission. By contrast, David Heathcoat-Amory, the arch Tory Eurosceptic, stood rather awkwardly to attention. Most of the assembled Brits adopted an intermediate position-slouching rather than standing and whispering and giggling to each other. But not all of them. When the music stopped, an Irish delegate turned to Robert "Lord" Maclennan (the Liberal Democrats' man) to make a facetious comment, only to find that the poor man's eyes had filled with tears of emotion.
The loutish lobby
A week later, the whole constitution roadshow had moved on to Thessaloniki for the closing summit of the Greek presidency. It is now a well established pattern that-however serious the issue being discussed at an EU summit-the British parliamentary lobby manage to find something else to talk about. At the Copenhagen summit at the end of 2002, when agreement was finally reached to admit ten new members to the EU, the British press could speak only of Cherie Blair's purchase of a flat in Bristol. At the Lisbon summit, when Cherie's husband managed briefly to seize control of the European agenda and get the EU to commit to a new round of economic liberalisation, the lobby were pursuing the fact that Blair and Robin Cook had travelled to the summit on separate government planes. In Thessaloniki, the British press were much less concerned by the European constitution than by the fact that-back in Britain-Peter Hain might be about to suggest hiking the top rate of tax. Perhaps unsurprisingly Tony Blair skipped the closing press conference.
Joschka for foreign minister?
One politician who certainly had a gleam in his eye in Thessaloniki was Joschka Fischer, the German foreign minister. He has made it extremely clear that he is definitely a candidate for the job of European foreign minister, envisaged in the new constitution. Although the constitution will not be ratified for years (if ever), the role of foreign minister is likely to be set up well before then. Fischer has even started laying down conditions. He says he will only take the job if a proper EU diplomatic service is created.
But is the German foreign minister really such a shoo-in? It's true that he is widely admired by the European left, respected by his peers and venerated by the federalists. But his high profile could also work against him. The British will be wary of the press reaction to a foreign minister who is not only German, but who has also made a celebrated speech in favour of political union. The Italians are clearly not getting on too well with the Germans at the moment. Fischer would certainly get French support-but that might put the Spanish on edge. Ana Palacio, Spain's foreign minister, has talked openly of her concern that a Franco-German engine is running Europe. Openly campaigning for the job may also backfire on Fischer-even Brussels bureaucrats have been making Berlusconi-like "jokes" about the German habit of putting their towels on the beach early. So don't count out a renewal of Javier Solana's mandate. He is generally reckoned to be one of the few real stars in the Eurocracy at the moment, and he would probably be interested in carrying on.
