Real Europe debate starts after vote

Comments by European Commission President Romano Prodi and others have come at an awkward time for UK politicians

By CNN Brussels Bureau Chief Patricia Kelly

BRUSSELS, Belgium (CNN) -- Alexander Stockton is a member of the European Parliament. His grandfather was British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, who made Britain's first application to join the European Union back in the 1960s.

"As you may remember it was refused by General de Gaulle -- the famous 'non,'" says Stockton.

The British government eventually overcame French objections. A national referendum in 1975 set the seal on British membership in the EU.

Yet aspects of that membership have consistently been questioned by the British ever since. Their current general election campaign at times has appeared more like a debate over Europe.

"This is not the case in other countries, even in those who came later in the European Union. That there is a debate on Europe I think that is not negative. Sometimes I think I would like to have a fundamental debate on Europe also in other countries in electoral campaigns," says Klaus Hensch, a German member of the European Parliament.

Several European politicians have already started the debate, going public with their personal vision for the future of Europe.

The French Socialist view put forward by Prime Minister Lionel Jospin bears little resemblance to Britain's New Labour approach -- although both prefer power to remain with nation-states rather than EU institutions.

The Germans, followed by Belgium, Luxembourg and Finland, are pursuing a federal European Union -- anathema to the British.

"For Germany, the federal system is part of their own national government -- to be therefore part of a larger federal system is not upsetting to the Germans," says Stockton.

Recent comments by senior Eurocrats -- European Commission President Romano Prodi among them -- have come at an awkward time for British politicians in the middle of an election campaign.

"I don't think that at the moment it's easy to talk very freely and easy from Brussels without one's remarks being taken out of context and used to muddy the waters of what is already a fairly murky debate," says European Commissioner Chris Patten.

But once the British have cast their vote and election rhetoric has faded, the debate over what Europe should be about, and how it should be run, is likely to start in earnest. Patten, who is British, is likely to be one of the first off the mark.

"I think we have to decide for once and for all whether we're really committed to making a success of the enterprise, whether we're committed to making a success of Europe as we've been committed to making a huge success of NATO," says Patten. "If we are committed, I think there is a real and significant leadership role we can play."

The British, says Patten, are likely to lose more real sovereignty -- Britain's biggest fear -- by remaining semi-detached from the European Union instead of helping to lead it. But that's all he's saying for now -- until after the British have gone to the polls.