EU-leiders brainstormen over globalisering (en)

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - EU leaders will gather today (27 October) for a one-day introspection session on the economic future of the bloc, with memories of the failed budget summit in June lingering in the background.

As it is an informal meeting, with a very broad agenda and short to boot, no concrete decisions will be made. And some commentators have been wondering what, if anything, will be achieved.

But at the very least, EU leaders are likely to try for a show of unity following months of an EU go-slow and tit-for-tat exchanges between certain capitals.

The topic the 25 heads of state and government will be tackling is, broadly, globalisation - the approach to which has a direct effect on other pressing decisions needed to be taken by the bloc - including how its next budget will be spent and the shape of certain crucial internal market legislation, currently in the pipelines.

"How do we meet the competitive challenge and maintain the security of our citizens in a world of unprecedented movement?", British leader Tony Blair asked in his invitation letter to the summit.

The emergence of the globalisation debate

The whole globalisation debate was thrown into sharp relief in recent months finding its ultimate expression when French voters rejected the EU constitution in May.

A predominant fear, surveys showed afterwards, was that the document could expose them to Anglo-Saxon neo-liberalism, endangering jobs.

The polarising debate was also clearly evident in the summer saga over the importation of Chinese textiles to the EU.

Countries with traditionally important large textile industries, such as France and Italy, demanded support for their producers as Chinese clothes started to flood the EU.

Other member states lamented a return to protectionism when Brussels negotiated a quotas deal.

Although France and Britain's leaders appear to encapsulate what is seen as two fundamentally different views of what the EU should be - particularly when they fell out in June over the EU budget - it is not entirely a Paris-London debate.

No middle ground

The protectionism/free market discussion has been rumbling on to various degrees ever since the current commission came to office in autumn last year.

With commission president Jose Manuel Barroso having promised that his time at the helm of the EU executive will be a pro-business, job-creating one, virtually not a day goes by without an accusation from left-leaning politicians that he is forsaking the European Social Model.

But the problem is no one agrees on what exactly the European Social Model is or should look like in the future.

Those arguing for change say that its general characteristics, such as high tax, big government, and tendency to protectionism must be adapted to suit a highly integrated, information technology world.

Those favouring the European social model tend to argue that strong protection for workers plus a high-level of solidarity is what makes Europe stand out as a place to live and work.

The rhetoric has yet to find some sort of middle ground.

Some signs of hope?

However, most EU leaders are aware that with the emergence of China and India on the economic scene and the poor performance of its largest member states - particularly France and Germany - the EU will have to find a regional response to globalisation if it is to compete on the world stage.

Before the summit there were some hopeful signs that the EU would attempt to create something of substance from the meeting - particularly as Tony Blair and Jacques Chirac each made conciliatory political overtures on Wednesday.

Mr Blair on Wednesday publicly backed the idea for a fund to help EU citizens affected by globalisation while the French president admitted that "Europe cannot stand still while its competitors forge ahead".