EUROPEAN COMMISSION: The new secretary general of the European Commission, Catherine Day, speaks to Jamie Smyth
The incoming secretary general of the European Commission, Irishwoman Catherine Day, has warned of "real difficulties" ahead for the EU if no agreement is reached on the bloc's 2007-2013 budget next month.
Ms Day, who will take up the top civil service position in the Union on Monday, has also targeted developing better co-ordination of policy-making, better regulation and the promotion of women as key priorities for her tenure as top civil servant.
"The financial perspectives discussions at the upcoming European Council will be very important. If member states can find a solution then it will give a real shot in the arm to the EU, which would enable it to roll out new policies. But if they don't get agreement it will be much harder to get going on policy areas."
She said it was not a question of survival of the EU, which was now such an essential part of daily life for people, but acknowledged that there could be problems ahead if no agreement can be found. She said the EU would need time to get proper plans and systems in place to enable it to spend its budget from the start of 2007.
"It is in my nature to be eternally optimistic, but it is fundamentally a question of political will to bring about an agreement. The UK are keen to find a solution, but it is very hard to predict how it will go," says Ms Day, who as the first woman to land the post of secretary general of the European Commission has reason to be upbeat.
A surprise choice for the top job - particularly since she replaced another Irish national, David O'Sullivan, as secretary general - Ms Day is well regarded in Brussels as a hard worker and tough negotiator. In a 25-year career at the commission she has risen steadily through the hierarchy, spending time in a variety of fields, from competition policy to external relations, before becoming director general of environment in 2002.
She acknowledges the difficulties that women face climbing the career ladder at the commission, where working hours are not family friendly.
"I will try to encourage especially young women to have confidence in their jobs," she says.
The key post of secretary general puts her in charge of 20,000 officials and at the centre of policy co-ordination of the EU's executive branch. Her first big task will be to attend the European Council meeting in December, where states will try to agree a budget worth more than €100 billion following the failure to agree a deal in June.
But this is just one of several challenges facing the commission headed by president José Manuel Barroso in the short- to medium-term. The rejection of a new constitution for the EU by French and Dutch voters earlier this year dealt a blow to the confidence of the commission. It also stalled important reforms to the EU's decision-making system, which analysts fear will struggle to cope with the proposed further enlargement of the EU.
Ms Day admits she has no new answers on the EU constitution problem beyond the "pause for reflection" and ongoing dialogue undertaken by the commission.
She says she will read herself into the constitution brief but will initially put priority on delivering better EU policy co-ordination and regulation.
"It is very important to push ahead with the goal of policy integration and a more co-ordinated legislative approach," says Ms Day, citing as an example the case of agricultural policy encouraging intensive farming in states such as the Netherlands which has a negative environmental effect on rivers and wetlands.
"We need to be looking further ahead and integrate different policies . . . This is of course a very easy thing to say, but it is extremely difficult to implement, and involves changes of attitude and culture within the commission." Ms Day's elevation to the top of the Brussels civil service exposed some of the ideological tensions that have blighted the first year of the Barroso commission. The French and British media trumpeted her appointment as a victory for Barroso's liberal agenda and a decline in French influence.
In newspaper articles, Ms Day was described as a "free market radical" and among a group of "Thatcherites", and it is likely that the secrecy surrounding the commission shake-up was a deliberate attempt to prevent governments from lobbying against the appointments.
"I would not accept any extremist labels and I don't think I am out at the edge of any ideological stance," says Ms Day, who has worked under several economic liberals such as Sir Leon Brittan, Lord Patten and Peter Sutherland in her 25 years at the EU.
"I am in favour of a fairly liberal, free market approach because my experiences at the commission and as an economist have shown me that this approach works. For example, opening up different industrial sectors to competition, such as telecoms and transport, has brought massive benefits to ordinary people."
She rejects the notion that the reshuffle of director generals in the commission last week represented some sort of "break with the past" and the rise of the liberals, yet says that president Barroso has a clear vision for the future. "He clearly is a strong president with a vision and an agenda that he wants delivered," says Ms Day, who adds that the EU needs a strong president now.
French and German concern that the Barroso commission is promoting an overly liberal agenda is threatening key pieces of EU legislation, such as a directive to liberalise services.
It has also resulted in several acrimonious outbursts from French prime minister Jacques Chirac, who has accused the commission of failing to protect French jobs and its agricultural sector.
Some analysts blame tension between France and the commission for the deadlocked trade talks. But having spent the past 3½ years as director general of the environment portfolio, Ms Day stresses that not all types of economic growth are desirable.
"I think the quality of growth is important and the kind of problems that we face in Europe must be dealt with through policies of sustainable development."