BBC News Online: Despatches: Europe

Robin Cook/Europe

"The British Prime Minister Tony Blair returned from the Amsterdam summit in June, announcing that Britain had won a terrific deal. The Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook, concurred -- up to a point. Mr Cook said that the new European Union treaty represented three major steps forward: it showed that the high tide of integration, as he put it, was now in ebb; that key British interests, for example on the control of external borders, were being safeguarded; and that there were improvements to existing European Union programmes, in the areas of environmental protection and anti-discrimination.

But Mr Cook said there had been one major disappointment.

ACTUALITY ROBIN COOK:

"It failed to reform the institutions of Europe in preparation for a larger Europe which will follow enlargement to Central Eastern Europe and to Cyprus"

end actuality

Mr Cook said there needed to be agreement about reducing the size of the European Commission, the beaurocratic heart of the union and about reforming the way in which votes are distributed among member countries. There's no doubt when the treaty comes before parliament in a weeks time that it will gain ratification but the opposition Conservatives will argue strongly against its approval. They'll say that the treaty weakens British autonomy without encouraging wider membership of the union. The argument between enthusiasts and sceptics of the european projects will continue to dominate British political life."

Despatches Contents

• Middle East
• Africa
• Europe
• Far East
• Americas
• South Asia
• West Asia