Barroso at the Hugo Young Memorial Lecture

3.36.53pm BST (GMT +0100) Tue 17th Oct 2006

Several LDEG members attended Chatham House for the Hugo Young Memorial Lecture given by José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, on Monday 16th October. The event was organised by Lucy Young and the Guardian in association with the New Politics Network. Dame Liz Forgan, chairing the meeting, wondered what Hugo would think of some of today's issues. Of course, we do know that he thought of Europe as the great endeavour. A report follows of what President Barroso, speaking on the record, had to say.

• The European Union's raison d'être

Monnet and his co-founders of the European community wanted to make war in Europe impossible. Europe was to be a region where peace, prosperity and freedom would flourish. The increased interdependence given by the common market was merely a means to an end rather than an end in itself, and the goal had to be European union. As a means of avoiding further wars, this has been amazingly successful.

• An Open and Engaged EU

The future needs to be about an open Europe, which tries to close the gap with its citizens. We need to deal with issues such as energy diversity and security and helping Africa to emerge from poverty and disease. However, it is appreciated that the allegiance of the typical EU citizen is to the state and that the nation is the main source of political power. The notion of subsidiarity was the chosen way to bridge this gulf.

• Aid

The EU gives much aid and is working towards the millennium development goals. Last week Barroso was in Darfur and saw many young Europeans helping which made him proud to be a European.

• Security

Europe is an effective actor in the world due to a large variety of strategies.

• Reform

We have effective institutions but from next year (2007) when we are 27 nations there has to be reform. In particular, at the moment it takes too long to make decisions, which often need to be made urgently. The distance between the EU and its citizens also needs addressing. Policies are the prime concern and some will require greater pooling of sovereignty, some less.

• The Constitution

The name "constitution" has been problematic and perhaps a different name needs to be considered in the future. Many of the needed reforms were outlined in the draft constitution. These reforms will be necessary with or without a written constitution.

• UK

Very often the UK does not engage in important EU issues. Barroso wonders if that might be due to our natural modesty. He believes that the UK has a central role in the EU and hopes that we will become more enthusiastic.

• Enlargement & the Balkans

Paddy Ashdown asked if the EU would honour the Thessaloniki agreement to accept the Balkan states. He believes that it is only the thought of joining Europe, which is holding the region together at the moment. Barroso's reply was that with regard to most Balkan states the answer will be yes but there are concerns with regard to Turkey.

• Enlargement Exhaustion

Many countries want to join the EU, which is a sure sign that we are doing something right. However, other than the Balkans, Barroso cannot see that any more countries will be given full membership in the years ahead. However, we should not leave countries such as the Ukraine in the cold and there ought to be a new kind of associate membership. Having an EU constitution could help the situation but to continue widening at the moment might make us lose our credibility.

• Nations & Trust

Nations are still the main political space. However, research for eurobarometer shows that most Europeans trust their own governments even less than they trust the EU.

• The Euro

Economists said it would never happen yet now the euro is the world's second most popular reserve currency after the US dollar. A recent study calculated that it now represented 28 per cent of world reserves against 61 per cent for the US dollar, although virtually all of the increase had been between 2001 and 2002. When asked by Derek Honeygold (LDEG Treasurer) if he thought that the European Union should be taking advantage of a favourable economic and political climate to promote the use of the euro as an alternative reserve and vehicle currency, the President seemed strangely complacent.

• Democratic Deficit

On being challenged about Europe's democracy and about being personally very powerful yet unelected by the people, Barroso deflected the personal attack with his usual calm and addressed the issue. As president of the commission he was nominated by the heads of state and approved by the European Parliament, which in turn was elected by the people. Democracy is not just about direct elections for executives but the constitution could be written to ensure that any future presidents are directly elected. However most nations including the UK voted against this idea in the past.

José Manuel Barroso exuded charm and charisma. "What a shame all the commissioners are not like him," was a comment received from one Chatham House member.

Carol Weaver