July 1 has seen the Presidency of the European Union pass from Ireland to the Netherlands. This last name actually means the "low countries" but there can rarely have been an EU Presidency that has started on such a high note.
The agreement reached just a few weeks ago on the first EU constitution and the even more recent consensus on the choice for the new President for the European Commission were crowning achievements for the outgoing Irish Presidency.
They provide the launching platform for the activity of the new Dutch Presidency, which has the difficult task to sustain this new-found impetus towards greater and more effective European integration.
The adoption of the EU constitution was undoubtedly a historical milestone. However, to quote a heading that struck my attention when reading a news report on the subject: "The most exciting part is just beginning".
Getting all 25 member countries to agree to one common draft of the constitution was no easy matter but getting the parliaments and citizens within all of these countries to ratify the draft is likely to be an even more difficult task. Not an impossible one by any means but one that will require considerable hard work and particular attention to the need to reach large segments of the public that are either inadequately informed or, worse still, have already been subjected to a distorted representation of what the constitution entails and implies.
In reality, it is always much more difficult to sell a new idea than to paddle easy predictions of doom and gloom. We all know that it is so much easier for negative news to make the headlines.
On the very day that the EU member states managed to agree on the draft constitution, there were newspapers that still found it easier to give prominence to the fact that no agreement had been reached as yet, at that stage, on the appointment of a successor to Romano Prodi.
Now that agreement has been achieved even on this matter, these same newspapers will, undoubtedly, find other negative pronouncements with which to seek to influence their readers. This is never a difficult task since there are always a multitude of perspectives to a particular issue. Our concern and effort must be to ensure that they are all faithfully put across.
The closer one scrutinises the various European institutions, especially if one has the advantage of being able to do so as an insider, the greater one becomes aware of the inherent constraints and the complexity of the situations that have to be managed and the challenges that have to be overcome at each and every stage of the long and arduous route towards further European integration.
It is much more than a long journey to a distant objective; it is the even more difficult task of exhorting progress onwards towards a goal that is still quite nebulous in the minds of many or which does not seem to be critical enough in comparison to other preoccupations that are more tangible and hence appear to be more urgent.
This is the challenge ahead and the Dutch EU Presidency has specifically acknowledged the need to open a closer and wider debate on European co-operation and integration that can lead to a more direct involvement of a broader cross-section of EU citizens.
This is clearly spelled out in the list of priorities that the Dutch Presidency has set itself. It is the right approach to take.
Many representatives of the international media have been prone to label as a 'test' the forthcoming phase in which the newly approved constitution will be subject to national ratification. In effect it is a great opportunity to get across to all EU citizens what being part of a united Europe really means and to make them feel closer to those decisions that will determine their future well-being.
This is a task that will be taken in earnest by the Dutch Presidency but which all those who share in the vision of a united Europe must also be ready to sustain actively. Prominent among them must be the Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) who are the elected representatives of the citizens of Europe and whose very posts reflect the desire to provide a more tangible link between the citizens and the decision-making process within the European Union.
The new constitution invokes and involves the citizens of the EU and MEPs are their representatives at the European level, in the same manner in which their local MPs represent them at the National level.
The difference is, of course, that our MEPs do not form part of an EU government or Opposition. This is a new element that for the past year we already had a taste of during the period as observers in the EP.
There will be need for greater co-operation than exists on the local scene in parliament, and for involvement not just on issues of a national interest, but also of a wider, European interest. This is the way influence is gained in the EP, and not just by putting forward one's national interests. Many bills are passed every week in the EP.
The proposed legislation is often heavily modified and improved before a majority of support is found. Our MEPs need to integrate into this process, create networks of colleagues, sometimes even across parties, and garner respect, much as the MEPs from other small countries, such as Luxembourg, have managed to do.
The constitution will dictate, among many other factors, the future composition, role and powers of the European Commission. In contrast, at this point in time, the European Commission is almost extraneous to the eventual ratification of the constitution since this will have to take place at the national level.
However, because of its highly visible nature, it is inevitable that the perceived performance of the soon-to-be appointed, new Commission will greatly influence the ongoing debate about greater European integration.
Although the European parliament has been entrusted progressively with a wider and more central role in the elaboration and definition of European policy measures, it is still the Commission that most often captures media attention.
Hence, albeit in this indirect manner, the ratification of the EU constitution will also revolve around the actions of the new Commission and especially of its recently appointed President, the Prime Minister of Portugal Jose Manuel Durao Barroso.
His appointment was a surprise to some and a compromise choice to others. However, there cannot be any doubt as to the fact that he has the right credentials to fill this most important post that has been entrusted to him.
A lawyer and a professor of international relations by background, he served as Minister of Foreign Affairs before becoming Prime Minister in April 2002. Commentators have described him as a dedicated pro-European and have emphasised his diplomatic aptitude and political courage.
Most of these same commentators have also expressed their opinion that the fact that he comes from a small (or at least medium sized) country is an additional strongpoint. This is a most interesting perspective when considering that so many people had originally feared that the EU would favour the large countries at the expense of those that are small. It is turning out to be a different reality altogether.