Poland’s EU presidency priorities

Poland takes over the EU presidency at a difficult time for Europe, as the eurozone faces its worst crisis since the birth of the single currency.

Greece needs to be bailed out for a second time and has introduced extremely harsh austerity measures. Portugal, Ireland, Italy and Spain are all going through tough times and have also had to introduce hard-hitting budget measures.

It is no exaggeration to say that the eurozone’s sovereign debt crisis could derail the bloc’s modest economic recovery and has shaken its confidence. Furthermore, Poland, which is one of the EU’s most pro-European members, has to deal with a rise in euroscepticism within the EU and even calls from some quarters for the reversal of certain European integration policies.

Denmark, for example, one of the Schengen states, has re-imposed controls on its frontiers with Germany and Sweden amid pressure from the right-wing Danish People’s Party, which gives parliamentary support to the ruling minority centre-right Danish government.

Denmark insists the controls are compatible with Schengen membership and are needed to counter illegal immigration and organised crime.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk believes the incoming presidency will “inject optimism” into EU affairs and when asked about the EU’s declining popularity he told the media: “I think we should fight that and argue against that. I think it’s quite an exciting task to persuade others that the EU is a great thing – that it’s the best place on earth where you can be born and live your life.”

This is the first EU presidency for Poland which, until 1989, had a Soviet-imposed Communist government, and this represents a remarkable transformation for the country which is now one of the ‘big six’ within the bloc and which certainly has considerable clout in Brussels. Poland has also done particularly well as a result of its EU membership – in no small part due to generous EU funding – and its GDP is expected to grow by over four per cent this year.

“The Polish presidency is a good time to consider how much the EU has given Europe, and how much we Europeans can join in its development,” Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski said as his country took over the helm of the EU.

Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said his country’s presidency will focus on encouraging economic growth across the EU as was crucial in reinforcing European solidarity.

“Our first priority is to restart growth in Europe because we think that from this much else will follow – greater solidarity, greater generosity in the neighbourhood, a greater openness to enlargement,” he said.

Officially, the future of regional policy – the EU’s policy of reducing economic, social and territorial disparities that exist between Europe’s regions – as well as the 2014- 2020 EU budget, energy security, the EU’s Eastern neighbourhood policy, completing the Single Market Act and Croatia’s EU accession will top the Polish presidency agenda.

However, the eurozone’s difficulties are likely to overshadow Poland’s presidency, even though Poland has not yet adopted the single currency and is not a member of the eurogroup, the bloc of eurozone finance ministers led by Jean Claude Juncker, the Prime Minister of Luxembourg.

Prime Minister Tusk did say that the financial crisis will require “constant concentration and cooperation” between Poland and the European institutions.

Presiding over the negotiations for the next EU budget will present a challenge to Poland. It is very much in favour of increasing the EU budget – it has certainly done well out of EU funds – but it is bound to face opposition from countries like Britain, Germany and the Netherlands, which believe in these times of budget cuts throughout Europe the EU should set an example and considerably limit its budget increases.

The fact that European Budget Commissioner Janusz Lewandow-ski is a Pole may help Poland as it pushes for an ambitious EU budget.

Poland is also keen on contributing to the Arab Spring, arguing that the experience of the 1989 revolutions in Eastern Europe should guide European policy towards the Arab revolutions.

Although the circumstances are not exactly the same, Poland can certainly give advice to the Arab world on the peaceful transition from a dictatorship to a democracy.

There has been concern exp-ressed in environmental quarters about the lack of reference to climate change in Poland’s EU presidency programme. Poland recently blocked proposals to toughen the EU’s carbon emissions target from 20 to 25 per cent in 2020, over 1990 levels, mainly because of its dependence on coal.

Some have questioned whether Poland can really speak for the EU at November’s climate change conference in South Africa. There is bound to be a lot of behind the scenes EU negotiations taking place leading to the conference.

One also has to keep in mind that the Polish EU presidency may become distracted by a national election in October, which is something Europe can do without.

Tusk’s centre-right pro-European Civic Platform is likely to be re-elected but the campaign is bound to take much of his time.

Although the EU presidency is now less powerful than before the Lisbon Treaty came into effect, there are high hopes for Poland’s time at the helm.

Jerzy Buzek, the Polish president of the European Parliament said: “There are large expectations for the Polish presidency. There is a feeling that we can breathe in a new spirit, something that today’s Europe really needs.”

One thing is for certain: the Poles are keen to stress the value of solidarity during their presidency, which is needed in today’s climate.

During Pope John Paul II’s beatification last month Donald Tusk cited the “values based on the teachings of John Paul II” in presenting his presidency’s priorities, which can only be a good thing.