EU to Send Peacekeepers to Join Afghanistan Force

Leaders of the European Union said Saturday that they would send peacekeepers to Afghanistan, press for Middle East peace and reform EU institutions in hopes of closing the gap between the alliance’s aspirations and its complicated realities.

Wrapping up a two-day summit in Laeken, a suburb of the Belgian capital, the 15 heads of state also pressed on with ambitious plans to admit 10 new members in 2004.

But there were quiet, and not-so-quiet, conflicts that underscored the difficulty of incorporating East European nations with weaker economies and institutions into an already unwieldy union.

The leaders agreed that they disagree too much, and that the addition of new nations could make things worse. They put a former French president in charge of a commission that will reform a cumbersome decision-making process in which a single holdout can scuttle painfully crafted initiatives.

Diplomatic scuffles were balanced by celebration of an impending landmark event: the introduction Jan. 1 of the regional common currency, the euro.

The euro could be just a first step toward eventual political, judicial and military integration, analysts say. Or it could be that the fall of economic borders is about the most that the European Union can hope to accomplish. The 15 nations must resolve a long-standing debate about how much power to cede to Pan-European institutions while avoiding creation of an intrusive superstate.

“Must Europe remain nothing more than a big market, with some specific institutions that coordinate justice or the environment?” asked Jean de Belot, a French political commentator. “Or is there a common will, an ambition shared by Europe’s politicians capable of dealing on an equal footing with the United States and the future giants of the 21st century: Russia, China, India?”

In addition to internal divisions, the summit brought new signs of tension with the United States--a whiff of previous disagreements that subsided after the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

The indictment last week of a Frenchman in the attacks has caused complaints by the governments of France, Spain and other countries about the prospect that Europeans, and suspects held in Europe, could face the death penalty or military tribunals in the U.S.

Moreover, the declarations of support for the U.S.-led war on terror contained in the leaders’ final statement did not mask their differences with Washington over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

European leaders insisted that Yasser Arafat, the president of the Palestinian Authority, is still essential to peace despite Israel’s decision to cut ties with him.

“Israel needs a partner to negotiate with, both in order to eradicate terrorism and to work toward peace: This partner is the Palestinian Authority and its elected leader, Yasser Arafat,” the leaders said in a joint statement regarded as unusually assertive. “His capacity to combat terrorism must not be weakened.”

In their final declaration, the leaders urged the United States to work with them to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The EU’s diplomatic chief, Javier Solana, will head to Washington in coming days to discuss the Middle East.

Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel ran into trouble over his announcement Friday that the EU would deploy its own multinational peacekeeping force to Afghanistan. He called it “a turning point in the history of the European Union.”

British and German representatives made it clear that the alliance was in no position to field an EU peacekeeping force in Afghanistan.

“There is no question of the EU being able to deploy a defense force it doesn’t have,” said Jack Straw, Britain’s foreign secretary. The heads of state concluded Saturday that they will provide troops to a planned U.N. force led by Britain.

The EU leaders declared their nascent military force “operational.” But according to experts, the rapid-reaction force of 60,000 troops intended as a purely European alternative to NATO will not be ready for deployment for two to three years and still must overcome objections from Greece. It also needs access to North Atlantic Treaty Organization intelligence and planning assets to get off the ground.

Similar difficulties could affect the pioneering decision to adopt a Europe-wide arrest warrant in cases of terrorism, organized crime and other serious offenses. That vote was a big step toward coordinating disparate justice systems. It will allow judges to order arrests of suspects in another EU country and have them brought to trial without extradition proceedings.

Ex-French President Will Lead Review

But various disputes--a Spanish judge investigating Italy’s prime minister, Italian and French prosecutors blocked from extraditing accused terrorists from Belgium and Britain--raise doubts about the implementation of the accord.

The leaders named Valery Giscard d’Estaing, the 75-year-old former president of France, to lead a review of proposals for major changes before the planned entry of the 10 new members in 2004. The initiatives include creating an EU constitution, granting more power to the union’s executive commission and to a European Parliament that sometimes seems more decorative than decisive, and making decisions based on majority votes rather than unanimous approval by member nations.

The nations that are likely candidates to finish negotiating their entry and join the EU in 2004 are Slovenia, Hungary, Estonia, Malta, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Latvia, and Lithuania, it was announced Saturday. Bulgaria and Romania also want to join the club, but that is not likely to happen until at least 2007.