Berlin – The European Union will celebrate its 50th birthday today in grand style, with all-night street parties and cakes from all over the continent. But its members are squabbling, as usual, over what to wish for when the time comes to blow out the candles.
For months, diplomats have labored to draft a formal birthday message that would highlight the historic accomplishments of the union, such as the creation of the euro currency and the elimination of many border controls. The 27 countries that belong to the bloc are struggling mightily to agree on the wording of the platitudes, however, not to mention their goals.
German diplomats, led by Chancellor Angela Merkel, have been pushing for the adoption of “the Berlin Declaration,” a grandly titled document that would prod the union to adopt a constitution by 2009. The document sets a goal of renewing “the common foundation on which the European Union is built” by overhauling its bureaucratic bylaws.
Although the declaration is nonbinding and almost devoid of specifics, hardly anyone is willing to sign it. As a result, the declaration is likely to be signed only by three individuals: Merkel, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and Hans-Gert Poettering, president of the European Parliament.
