PARIS -- The European Union should figure heavily in the headlines this month. To start with, U.S. President George W. Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, French President Jacques Chirac, Russian President Vladimir Putin and many other heads of states, including German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, will meet Sunday on the Normandy Coast to celebrate the 60th anniversary of D-Day, the 1944 Anglo-American landing that led to Allied victory in Europe in 1945.
No doubt this meeting will provide an opportunity to celebrate reconciliation of former enemies under the NATO and European flags as well as narrow the still wide gap between Washington and London on one side and most of the continental partners on the other regarding Iraq and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Next, between June 10 and 13, the citizens of the now 25 EU member states will elect 732 deputies to the European Parliament for five-year terms. In spite of its name, this body hasn't the capacity to present bills, yet enjoys growing powers such as approving the EU budget; appointing and even censoring the president of the Commission, the EU's permanent executive body; and approving the Commission's decisions. Voting will be for one round. Each listing that gets 5 percent or more of the vote is assured of proportional seat representation.