As the Eu celebrates its 50th year, June O'Keeffe assesses the challenges facing german chancellor angela merkel in establishing a definitive eu rulebook


New Year's Day rang in the changes. The borders of the EU extended eastwards to the Black Sea - take note all those wanting a summer holiday or looking to buy a timeshare somewhere a bit different - and almost 30 million people became EU citizens, although Bulgarians and Romanians will not have the same rights as the rest of us for a few years.



The UK government has introduced quotas on the number of people who can work in the UK following a serious miscalculation of the number of migrants arriving under the previous enlargement in 2004. With the new members also comes a new pan-European political party in the European Parliament, the Identity, Tradition, Sovereignty Party, which contains a ragbag of right-wing nationalist politicians, including ex-UKIP politician Ashley Mote. Slovenia ditched its tolar for the shiny new euro - its fourth currency in 20 years - and Irish became an official language of the EU, despite there being practically no one to do the translation work.



And finally, Angela Merkel, Germany's Chancellor, took over the presidency of both the EU and the G8. While they will have a lot on their plate, the Germans are doing their best to dampen any expectations that they will achieve agreement on issues that have so far stubbornly eluded their predecessors, notably in relation to the moribund EU Constitutional Treaty. 'Expect no miracles' seems to be the mantra doing the rounds.



But the recent enlargement has only served to highlight further the need for a change in the rulebook to make the EU work effectively. Although they have made the constitution one of their priorities during their six-month tenure, the Germans' goal is to produce a 'road map' of the way forward. In other words, a series of high-level discussions will take place between the EU's leaders to ascertain if there is any way out of the crisis. One of the major stumbling blocks is the fact that there will be elections in France and the Netherlands, the two countries which have rejected the constitution in referendums, thereby provoking the crisis in the first place. That is not to mention a new face behind the door soon at Number 10.



Inevitably in a union of 27 member states, a year will not go by when elections of some sort are not taking place. The coming two are, however, particularly tricky. When the French and Dutch said no, did they really mean no? The Irish rejected the Nice Treaty when it was put to a referendum, largely on the back of an anti-EU campaign using the slogan 'If you don't know, vote no'. A second referendum was held, where the populace willingly obliged this time by voting in favour of the Nice Treaty.



The French and Dutch governments are not willing to countenance another 'no' vote, so a second referendum is not an option. The French proposal has been to come up with a mini-treaty that is a less ambitious and detailed version of the Constitutional Treaty. The Germans are against this cherry-picking approach, even if in reality this is already beginning to happen. They may have to revise this view if they are serious about the constitution ever seeing the light of day. The chances of a referendum taking place in the UK on this issue, as promised by Tony Blair, are looking increasingly slim.



So what else is new for 2007? It has been chosen as the 'European year of equal opportunities for all'. Powerful EU-wide anti-discrimination laws are already in place, which outlaw discrimination on the basis of gender, race, sexual orientation, disability and so forth. The purpose of the chosen theme for the year is to ensure that people know about their rights in these areas and that diversity is encouraged. The UK has proved fertile ground for challenges to unequal treatment, with a number of landmark judgments concerning UK rules, such as the rights of transsexuals and same-sex partners, and pension rights. Challenges to the new UK retirement laws (among others) would suggest that this trend is set to continue.



This is also the year when the EU turns 50. A young Polish designer won the competition to design the logo to mark the EU's half-century, 'together since 1957'. But even that was not without controversy, given that the winning logo was in English, promptly leading to objections by the French and others.



In terms of feting the anniversary, do not expect to get a slice of birthday cake. Officials in Brussels are reining back on plans to hold celebrations in the member states for fear of compounding impressions of Brussels' money-wasting. Plans to hold an EU-wide song contest to mark the event, entitled 'Europe singing and giving', have been scrapped in favour of more formal celebrations.



A birthday message - the Berlin Declaration - mapping out the EU's future will be given by EU leaders in March. And they will probably celebrate by raising a glass or two of bubbly on our behalf.



June O'Keeffe is head of the Law Society's Brussels office. Email: brussels@lawsociety.org.uk