{"id":1052,"date":"2025-10-02T04:01:47","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T04:01:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/collecting-signatures\/"},"modified":"2025-10-02T04:01:47","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T04:01:47","slug":"collecting-signatures","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/blogs\/europe-s-international-role\/collecting-signatures\/","title":{"rendered":"Collecting Signatures"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"middle content\">\n<div class=\"column left\" id=\"columnleft\">\n<section class=\"block article author\">\n<div class=\"headline\">\n<h3>About the author<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"inline-content\">\n<div class=\"about-author\">\n<div class=\"tleft\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/files\/var\/broker\/storage\/images\/authors\/keijzer-niels\/156797-2-eng-gb\/keijzer-niels_author.jpg\" alt=\"\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"tright\">\n<h3><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/authors\/keijzer-niels\/\">Niels Keijzer<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNiels Keijzer is a researcher at the German Development Institute \/ Deutsches Institut f\u00fcr Entwic&#8230;\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/authors\/keijzer-niels\/\">full profile<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<div class=\"block article author\">\n<div class=\"headline\">\n<h3>Tags<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"inline-content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<section class=\"content column wide left blog_post content view\" id=\"content\">\n<div class=\"edit image\">\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/files\/var\/broker\/storage\/images\/blogs\/europe-s-international-role\/collecting-signatures\/24327-1-eng-gb\/collecting-signatures_full_view.png\" alt=\"\">\n\t<\/div>\n<article class=\"fader\">\n<header class=\"contents\">\n<div class=\"share\">\n\t\t\t<script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n    var addthis_config = {\n        ui_language = 'en'\n    }\n<\/script><\/p>\n<div class=\"addthis sharing\">\n\t<!-- AddThis Button BEGIN --><\/p>\n<div class=\"addthis_toolbox addthis_default_style addthis_32x32_style\" addthis:title=\"Collecting signatures\">\n\t<a class=\"addthis_button_twitter\" tw:via=\"thebrokeronline\"><\/a><br \/>\n\t<a class=\"addthis_button_facebook\"><\/a><br \/>\n\t<a class=\"addthis_button_pinterest_share\"><\/a><br \/>\n\t<a class=\"addthis_button_preferred_4\"><\/a><br \/>\n\t<a class=\"addthis_button_compact\"><\/a><br \/>\n\t<a class=\"addthis_counter addthis_bubble_style\"><\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n<p>\t<script type=\"text\/javascript\">var addthis_config = data_track_addressbar;<\/script><br \/>\n\t<script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/files\/js\/300\/addthis_widget.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n\t<!-- AddThis Button END -->\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"addthis article_options\">\n\t\t<!-- \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/mandrill\/subscription\/add\/4271\/4605\">Subscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t -->\n<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCollecting signatures<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n<div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n<p>\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/authors\/keijzer-niels\/\">Niels Keijzer<\/a>\t\t|<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t15 October 2025<br \/>\n\t<\/header>\n<div class=\"body contents\">\n<div class=\"object-left\">\n\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/files\/var\/broker\/storage\/images\/blogs\/europe-s-international-role\/collecting-signatures\/24327-1-eng-gb\/collecting-signatures_medium.png\" alt=\"Collecting signatures\">\n\t\t<\/div>\n<p>\t<!-- body --><\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">The last two weeks saw the majority of Irish citizens voting in support of their country\u2019s ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, as well as the Polish President providing his signature after his first pen mysteriously failed to <a href=\"http:\/\/euobserver.com\/18\/28809\" target=\"_blank\">produce ink<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">Now all eyes are set on V\u00e1clav Klaus in his Prague Castle, who needs to provide the final signature that will allow the Treaty to become a reality. Although the Czech Constitutional Court may still take some time to assess the \u2018constitutionality\u2019 of the Treaty, the speculations about possible candidates for still abstract sounding names such as \u2018President of the Council\u2019 and \u2018High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy\u2019 have intensified in previous weeks. Today\u2019s rumours will likely be dominated by an interview with <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lefigaro.fr\/politique\/2009\/10\/15\/01002-20091015ARTFIG00664-ce-n-est-pas-mon-fils-qui-est-vise-c-est-moi-.php\" target=\"_blank\">French President Nicholas Sarkozy in Le Figaro<\/a>, in which he expressed second thoughts on the suitability of Tony Blair for the post of Council President and that it was a problem that the UK does not participate in the Euro scheme.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">By means of the interview, President Sarkozy interestingly joins the position of many of the smaller EU member states. Three of those member states who together form the Benelux group suggested similar requirements for the Council President in a paper on the implementation of Lisbon which leaked to the press about a week ago.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">More interesting for the future place and profile of development cooperation in the changing EU is the paper\u2019s recommendation in relation to the European External Action Service (EEAS). First of all, the paper suggests that the EEAS should support the High Representative in ensuring the coherence of the EU\u2019s external action, and to not simply steamroll ahead but carefully \u2018pilot\u2019 the future EU Delegations in a few countries. Perhaps the most interesting proposal, though, is the following:<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\"><i>\u201cIn the interests of the coherence of external policy, some aspects of development cooperation policy \u2013 the country desks that currently fall under DG Development \u2013 should also be incorporated into the EEAS, as the EEAS provides more opportunities to carry out a better integrated European policy (as in the case of the 3D approach). It should be noted nevertheless that the specific goals of European development cooperation policy, such as the eradication of poverty, have been included in the Treaty, where they are presented as objectives of the <\/i><i>Union<\/i><i>.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">Implementing this suggestion would mean a major change for the organisation, and would possibly require more fundamental changes in the Commission\u2019s Directorates General responsible for formulating and\/or implementing its development policies. The Benelux paper also proposes a gradual approach to setting up the EEAS, first relying mostly on Commission and Council officials and only a limited number of member state diplomats, and later to be staffed by all three. A major issue for decision among the member states, and one with much impact on the balance of power for development cooperation between the EC, Council and Parliament, will be whether the EEAS will be funded from the general EU Budget (as proposed in the paper) or whether it will be kept outside of this budget (as apparently desired by some larger member states). Whereas putting it inside the budget would allow the European Parliament to have both influence and control, keeping it outside would improve the influence of the member states\u2019 governments.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">Although the Benelux paper gives a rare insiders view of some member states\u2019 views on the future of Europe, it is likely that the debate will continue in a (very) select group of people during the next few weeks, and that the rest of us will have to be satisfied with more fictional and sometimes even wishful thinking.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p class=\"yunu3cvqabft7vifv\">\n<p>\t\t<!-- body -->\n\t<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n<section class=\"commentform content column wide left\">\n<div class=\"disqus_content\">\n\t\t<a name=\"comments\" id=\"comments\"><\/a><\/p>\n<div id=\"disqus_thread\"><\/div>\n<p>        <script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n            \/* * * CONFIGURATION VARIABLES: EDIT BEFORE PASTING INTO YOUR WEBPAGE * * *\/\n            var disqus_shortname = 'broker'; \/\/ required: replace example with your forum shortname\n            var disqus_identifier = '3612';\n            \/* * * DON'T EDIT BELOW THIS LINE * * *\/\n\t\t\tfunction trackComment(comment)\n            {\n                console.log(comment);\n            }\n\t\t\tfunction disqus_config() {\n                this.callbacks.onNewComment = [function() { \n                console.log(comment);\n                }];\n            }\n\t\t\t(function() {\n                var dsq = document.createElement('script'); dsq.type = 'text\/javascript'; dsq.async = true;\n                dsq.src = '\/\/' + disqus_shortname + 'https:\/\/www.thebrokeronline.eu\/files\/blogs\/europe-s-international-role\/.disqus.com\/embed.js';\n                (document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0] || document.getElementsByTagName('body')[0]).appendChild(dsq);\n            })();\n        <\/script><br \/>\n        <!--\n        <noscript>Please enable JavaScript to view the <a href=\"http:\/\/disqus.com\/?ref_noscript\">comments powered by Disqus.<\/a><\/noscript>\n        <a href=\"http:\/\/disqus.com\" class=\"dsq-brlink\">comments powered by <span class=\"logo-disqus\">Disqus<\/span><\/a>\n        -->\n    <\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/section><\/div>\n<div class=\"clear\"><\/div>\n","protected":false,"raw":""},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>About the author Niels Keijzer Niels Keijzer is a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"template_3.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1052","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Collecting signatures \/ Europe&#039;s International Role \/ Blogs - The Broker<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The last two weeks saw the majority of Irish citizens voting in support of their country\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, as well as the Polish President providing his signature after his first pen mysteriously failed to produce ink.Now all eyes are set on V\u00c3\u00a1clav Klaus in his Prague Castle, who needs to provide the final signature that will allow the Treaty to become a reality. 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