Changes within the European Union
IT is generally agreed that the French have had a good European Union Presidency (till the end of 2008). Despite the conflict in Georgia and the continuing economic catastrophe on both sides of the Atlantic and other regions of the world, French President Sarkozy was able to handle emerging problems with a degree of maturity that had not been anticipated. In a manner of speaking it signalled not only his political renaissance but also underlined the need for the EU to have a strong political leadership. It is true that some of France's decisions were seen as unilateral and might have led to some coolness between the German and French governments but that should not be over-dramatised.
As of the beginning of 2009, there has been a change in the EU Presidency. The Czech Republic (not a member of the euro zone) under a Eurosceptic President is in charge.
There have already been suggestions that the Czech Republic will be unable to play a major role in responding to the economic crisis. On the other hand, such anxiety is being pushed aside with analysts pointing out that the Czech government was "lucky" to hold the EU Presidency at this time (as it coincides with many important, positive anniversaries: five years on from the EU's 'big bang' enlargement and 20 years after the opening of the Iron Curtain) and would not allow anything to go amiss. It is also being noted that their term in office will coincide with the coming to power of President Barack Obama in the US-- a historical opportunity to steal the limelight.
The next few months will not be easy sailing for Europe in general and the Czechs in particular. They will have to deal with the economic crisis, turbulence in international policies, end of term of the current European Parliament and European Commission and the forthcoming EU elections.
There will be difficulties but the new Presidency expects to move forward on a positive note. They intend, as a first step, to prove that the Czech administration is not Eurosceptic. It is being optimistically believed that Czech ratification of the Lisbon Treaty would go ahead in early 2009, following the Court's decision that the Treaty does not conflict with the Czech Constitution. That should iron out the contours.
The Czech Presidency has also outlined three priorities -- the economy, energy and external relations. In this context, the Czechs have already projected a special motto -- "Europe without barriers." This has been done because former East European countries (presently members of the EU) feel that there are still barriers to the free movement of goods, capital, services and labour in at least four EU Member States. They consider this as a factor that is hampering EU's economic potential. The Czechs have also indicated that they want to address the issue of unnecessary administrative burdens on entrepreneurs and obstacles for people (who are disabled or have different cultures or are on the margins of society) in finding employment.
The new Presidency has made it clear that strong and efficient measures must be taken to help the European economy recover from the current financial crisis. In this context, expressions of support have already surfaced over the European Commission's measures related to defining of capital requirements for banks, monitoring credit rating agencies, and controlling insurance companies through the Solvency II Initiative. The current Presidency believes that it cannot only implement the European Economic Recovery Plan and the Lisbon Strategy (to get the economy back on an even keel) but also be able to launch a discussion on the European Central Bank's report on European Financial Integration at the Spring European Council. It is anticipated that it will also seek the cooperation of UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown in this regard after the G20 financial summit in London in April 2009.
Turning to energy, the Czech Presidency strongly believes that with the help of the European Parliament it can build on the package on energy and climate change already agreed to at the EU Summit on 11-12 December. They feel that it will be possible to get similar compromises with the Chinese and the Americans in the run-up to the Copenhagen Conference in December 2009. In this context, the Czech will be focusing on a package that would facilitate energy security through a comprehensive analysis of supply and demand; through better connections with energy resources (energy grids and transmission capacity) throughout the EU; and through dialogue and cooperation with energy-producing and transmitting countries pertaining to diversification of resources.
It is expected that in external relations, the Czech Republic will be specially focusing on the regions closest to the EU. The Czech Presidency hopes to play the role of 'honest broker' in helping the Western Balkan countries (because of their historical closeness to Europe) who want to become EU members. It will continue negotiations with Croatia and hold talks with the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (including resolving the question of the latter's use of the name 'Macedonia'). They also intend to persuade Croatia and Slovenia to hold bilateral discussions on their border dispute and moderate these talks if necessary. The Presidency will also open two more chapters in the accession negotiations with Turkey.
Further afield, the Czech Presidency expects to help the Union to develop its 'Eastern Partnership' with Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Modlova and Ukraine. Here, discussions will focus on visa facilitation, closer economic cooperation, and regional and cultural cooperation to bring them closer to Europe. There will also be negotiations with Russia on a new partnership agreement and closer monitoring of the peace agreements (regarding Georgia) entered upon in September 2008. Turning to transatlantic relations, the Czech Presidency hopes to open the contacts, with the new US administration under Barack Obama and convene a EU-US Summit in Prague in late spring, and through that strengthen the Transatlantic Economic Council.
As is clear from the above, the new EU Presidency has bold aspirations. Achieving any success in this regard will require very close cooperation and coordination among the troika of EU Presidencies -- France, the Czech Republic and Sweden (who shall assume the Presidency in July 2009). In Dhaka, we do not have any Czech representation. Consequently, the Swedish diplomatic Mission is expected to be in charge of the rotating EU Presidency throughout 2009.
Muhammad Zamir is a former Secretary and Ambassador and can be reached at [email protected]
Comments