David Jessop, Contributor

One of the more bizarre experiences of the last week was being asked by the Breakfast Club to participate in a discussion about the new European treaty.

I joined the programme live on-line from London, albeit late because of city traffic, and was greeted by the two presenters. Five minutes, then 10 passed without a question.

At 15 minutes, during a busy day and still not being invited to comment on the issue, the discussion ended, leaving me with the surreal experience of 'participating' in a radio talk show in which one does not speak.

So, are thereimplications in the new European Treaty for the Caribbean? The answer is very definitely yes, in both its content and the discussion that led to agreement on its final language.

The treaty has come into being because Europe has recognised it needs to be better integrated if it is to have a more coherent global approach.

This reflects a desire to play a larger role in a world that is becoming multi-polar and in which United States influence is waning. It points by extension to important changes in the European Union's long-term relationship with regions such as the Caribbean.

The nature of the inter-European debate on the treaty was in itself significant because it illustrated the changing balance of power and changing personal chemistry between Europe's leaders.

Parameters for future organisation

What the Brussels summit on a new EU treaty did was to set the parameters for the future organisation of a Europe of 27 nations. EU leaders agreed to the overhaul of procedures to make Europe more democratic and better able internationally to speak with a single voice on agreed issues.

Among the changes agreed were the creation of a full-time president - a role in a few years' time that Britain's just-departed Prime Minister, Tony Blair, aspires to. This, along with the appointment of a new foreign affairs and security policy representative - who will chair EU foreign ministers' meetings and participate in relevant EC meetings - is intended to give continuity to policy making and its delivery on both the domestic and external fronts.

It is a decision that will, over time, begin to change the ways in which Europe relates to the Caribbean, and may result in the emphasis on political and economic relations moving from the bilateral to the multilateral.

In Brussels, European Heads of Government also agreed a new double-majority voting system. This will in future require 55 per cent of EU governments representing 65 per cent of the Union's population agreement if a majority vote is required.

Greater weight to newer member states

The effect will be to give greater weight to some of Europe's newer member states.

In an indication of how critical an issue this is to Europe's newest members and the ways in which it will move the balance of power an in Europe, the summit almost broke down over Poland's opposition to change until it was, was agreed that the introduction of the new voting system be delayed until 2017.

As such, it is a further signal to the region that it cannot continue to ignore deepening relations with the EU's newer member states.

At the Brussels summit, it was also agreed that the EU would establish a European diplomatic service working to the new foreign affairs representative.

From a Caribbean perspective, this is likely to mean an end to European representatives being able to present their own ideas as EU policy.

More important, this may lead to common European diplomatic representation in those Caribbean countries where bilateral economic or political relationships with Europe are not strong.

But one issue above all that is of fundamental importance to the Caribbean dominated the summit. It related to competitiveness and by extension, trade liberalisation.

At the meeting, France insisted on dropping Europe's commitment in the draft treaty to 'free and undistorted competition'.

In a personal and important victory for France's new President, Nicolas Sarkozy, EU member states accepted a significant change in European philosophy. They agreed to move away from competition as a specific objective or principle of the European Union.

Sarkozy made clear that EU Governments needed to get tough on their economic rivals, including China and the U.S.

"Naïvety is over; reciprocity has started," he noted in relation to Europe's previous willingness to offer market openings without taking enough account of EU interests and economic priorities.

During the debate, the French president was also quoted as having said: "The word protection is no longer taboo. Competition as an ideology, as a dogma, what has it done for Europe?"

While the French president is clearly very much in favour of fair competition as a basis for improving efficiency and lowering costs, what he signalled, most probably to the relief of some of his less trade-liberalisation-minded European colleagues, was that there has to be limits to market opening.

Comments on new stance

Although there has been little comment on how this new stance relates to the many international trade negotiations in which Europe is engaged, it would seem to spell the end of any further concessions from Europe in the Doha Round and most probably the further weakening of the EC Trade Commissioner's position.

What this dramatic philosophical shift suggests is that no one in the region should underestimate the importance of the arrival of M. Sarkozy, or the departure of Britain's Tony Blair from European politics.

That France's views held sway on the crucial issue on competition, points to how the balance of power and personal chemistry between leaders is changing in Europe.

Unlike his predecessor, President Sarkozy is charismatic and engaging and contrasts with the rather austere approach of Britain's new Prime Minister, Gordon Brown.

This, allied to the quietly effective attention-to-detail approach of the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, the rumbustious emergence of Poland and Portugal's approaching presidency with its emphasis on improved relations with the South and Latin America, suggests that Caribbean leaders begin to consider how best to respond to Europe's changing tone and strategies.

David Jessop is director of the Caribbean Council. Email: david.jessop@caribbean-coun cil.org