Ambition and dissent in Laeken

The EU gets the blame for war and globalisation

By the BBC's William Horsley in Brussels

The Laeken summit, like every recent meeting of its kind has brought thousands of Europeans on to the streets.

Whether the voices are raised against war or globalisation, it is the European Union that gets the blame.

I think there's a hidden agenda for the so-called fight against terrorism

Danish MEP Jens-Peter Bonde

European Union leaders say they will now make its workings more open and useful.

But the agenda at Laeken is dominated by the launch of a convention to debate the EU's own future - something far removed from everyday life.

European Commision President Romano Prodi is delighted, hailing the convention as a "triumph" for his team, which worked hard to persuade doubters to back the initiative.

Laeken paves the way for another EU treaty

But the critics are growing more numerous.

Danish member of the European parliament, Jens-Peter Bonde is angered at plans being rushed through for cross border police and judicial powers - plans which were speeded up after the suicide attacks on America. "I think there's a hidden agenda for the so-called fight against terrorism. It's a parcel of laws they decided upon back in 1999," says Mr Bonde.

"They want co-operation in the EU, they want common laws for punishment, they want to take over the decision making powers from Westminster and the other national parliaments and bring them to Brussels.

"And then they take the 11 September as an occasion to take (up) the old agenda... again".

And the conflict in Afghanistan has exposed another disagreement about whether the big decisions on behalf of the EU should be made by the 15 member states together, or if the larger states with military power can decide things by themselves.

The European Union to be a union of nations of democracies with shared goals, delivering shared peace, stability and prosperity for our citizens

UK Prime Minister Tony Blair

President Jacques Chirac of France and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, as well as German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, say they are ready to share their power as elected leaders with the EU's supranational institutions.

"I want a sovereignty for Britain that is rooted in democratic consent, rooted in being in this century, not just the national power in shifting alliances, but a great European power in a lasting European Union," said Mr Blair.

"And that European Union to be a union of nations of democracies with shared goals, delivering shared peace, stability and prosperity for our citizens".

But the smaller states protest at the emergence of a directorate of larger states whose leaders have been meeting more often among themselves.

Defence expert, Alexandra Ashbourne, says the result has been the sidelining of Europe.

She gives the EU a total mark of four out of 10 for its response to the international situation for "its inability to actually do anything more than vocally support the Americans".

For some too, the direction of the EU's debate on how to remodel itself is misguided. "The European Union, particularly its President, Romano Prodi, is always trying to pretend it's a European government," says the EU's former mediator in Yugoslavia, David Owen.

"It's not, it's a facilitator."

The argument is set to go on for at least another three years. Its conclusion will be yet another EU treaty.