The Consultation Process Towards the Five Presidents Report

The paper will analyse the consultation process towards the Five President report and assess the level of ambition of the report against this background. Specifically the paper will consider the positions expressed by MSs. There were different meetings between the representatives nominated by the Heads of state and government of MSs and those of the Five Presidents. There were two rounds of written contributions, which offer a clear overview of the positions on the table. On the basis of all such contributions (many of them still not public) I will assess the evolution of MSs position from the 1st to the 2nd position paper and the dynamics of the debate. This will help identify the main cleavages, the potential leaderships of the main camps, the role of the joint paper by France and Germany in the second round. Contrary to common wisdom Germany did not set the agenda nor exercised a driving role, but rather attempted together with France to identify a balance among the various positions, trying to substitute/indicate the way to the Five presidents at the end of the consultation. The paper will also take into account the public speeches made by the five Presidents on the topic during this process to set the agenda or indicate essential elements that were missing in the debate or that were not gathering sufficient consensus. This will also help evaluate the debate and dynamics within the Five presidents, and the driving role played by the Commission and ECB, with the support of the EP.