European Commission chairman Jean-Claude Juncker caused outrage when he suggested that national parliaments of the EU member states were to be bypassed in the bloc’s approval process for the European-Canadian CETA trade treaty. In hindsight, Juncker’s shrewd move shows what a cunning politician he is: He singlehandedly forced leading politicians in the member states to publicly defend the treaty.
CETA is seen by many in Brussels and the 28 -- soon to be 27 -- EU member states as a blueprint for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership trade treaty ratification process with the United States. TTIP is a hot-button political item, with many throughout the European Union opposed even though negotiations have yet to be finalized. So a lot is riding on a soft landing for CETA’s ratification.
Negotiation powers for such all-encompassing international trade treaties are in the hands of the European Commission, the executive body housed in Brussels that carries out the will of the member states. It was decided some time ago by the national governments of the EU states that there wasn’t much sense in having each separate state negotiate a trade treaty with large nations outside the EU.
It’s a sound idea. Not only does it prevent a lot of hassle for all parties involved, but the combined power of the Union also ensures that EU nations aren’t played out against each other. They confront big economic blocs such as the United States and China with a partner their own size.
To ensure a smooth process, the European Commission and the European Parliament were, with the consent of the national governments, given the mandate to not just negotiate but also ratify the treaties, sidestepping national parliaments. In all EU countries, majorities in those parliaments agreed to this. Naturally, the national governments -- being the bosses of the EU -- are confidentially kept in the loop by the Commission. But the mandate stands; the Commission may ratify the deals by itself.
However, in the past years the TTIP negotiations have come under major public scrutiny. Dozens of influential non-governmental organizations, think tanks, and pressure groups have raised concerns with TTIP. At the same time, public distrust of the ‘Brussels political machine’ has risen drastically. The messy deals and arm-twisting surrounding Greece, the handling of the eurozone’s economic crisis, fiscal scandals such as LuxLeaks and the Panama Papers, and of course the chaotic handling of the refugee crisis have had a detrimental effect on public support for the EU.
Much of the anger has focused on Jean-Claude Juncker, chairman of the European Commission. Seen by many as the penultimate unelected Eurocrat, whatever Juncker does is viewed with an almost instinctive animosity.
Whipping boy no longer
The European Commission is not in the position to rage against its masters in the EU’s capitals. Juncker is more often than not used as a scapegoat by national politicians seeking to vilify the European Union for their own popular gain. The political chess player that is Juncker is well aware of this mechanism; he was the prime minister of Luxembourg for years.
Knowing the unpopularity of the EU and the Commission, and realizing that if CETA failed, so would TTIP, Juncker decided that a trick was necessary. Besides that, he wasn’t planning on once again taking the heat for an unpopular decision while national governments feign innocence.
So he caused an outrage, publicly reiterating what was common policy: that the national parliaments would have no say in the ratification of the CETA treaty. Saying nothing new, he simply repeated known facts and counted on knee-jerk reflexes to do the work. As expected, politicians throughout the European Union couldn’t help themselves and fell for the bait. Within days, furious national parliaments forced governments to promise that they would be involved in the ratification process.
As Juncker explains in an interview with Der Spiegel, he has forced governments to own the ratification of CETA, to in effect take on his role and defend it. Juncker can’t be the favorite whipping boy this time.