The Polish Presidency of the EU Council started with high expectations on the part of other Member States and EU officials. At the outset of its Presidency, Poland enjoyed a good reputation because of its economic performance during the crisis (in 2009 Poland was the only country in the EU to achieve economic growth) and also because of its very pro-European society (over 80% of the Poles support their country’s membership in the EU and two thirds believe that this membership is something good). The government in Warsaw was perceived as well prepared for the task of pushing the EU agenda forward.
As a relatively big country, with a government efficiently operating on the European scene, Poland was also expected to go beyond the day-to-day administration of the Union and become a model of the division of competences between the rotating presidency and the new post Lisbon institutions of President of the European Council and High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy as well as the European External Action Service reporting to her.
At the same time, all actions of the Polish Presidency were very closely watched in other EU capitals as it was the first Presidency held by Warsaw. Even more so, as the previous Presidencies held by Member States that had joined the EU after 2004, had not been considered as terribly successful. Both the Czech Republic, because of the collapse of the government, and Hungary, because of the adoption of the controversial act on the media, were remembered as weak presidencies whose achievements had been overshadowed by negative internal developments. The Poles were aware of the fact that the standards were set high and of the challenges they would have to face. They also knew that even well prepared Presidencies were often hampered by unexpected turns of events.
In fact, this is what happened during Poland’s turn. The debt crisis pushed other priorities of the Polish Presidency into the background. The upsurge of the crisis required immediate, concrete and bold action. Poland, not being a member of the Eurozone, had, however, little room for manoeuvre. The decisions were made elsewhere and the Polish Minister of Finance, even as the Chair of ECOFIN, could not participate in the meetings of the Eurogroup.
Another challenge for Poland’s priorities was a very unstable situation in the European Union neighbourhood countries – both in the east and in the south. The developments of the so-called the Arab Spring attracted a lot of attention to North Africa and away from the east. In Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko increased repression against democratic activists and in Ukraine, the opposition leader Julia Timoshenko was charged by the authorities and convicted for a number of alleged crimes. All that made it much more difficult to achieve substantive progress in the area of Eastern Partnership, which had been one of Polish priorities.
Last but not least, the parliamentary elections in Poland, scheduled just in the middle of Polish Presidency, could also have affected its proper course. On the one hand, there was the risk that ministers would be more involved in the election campaign than in managing the Presidency work. On the other hand, however, there had also been the hope that the need to achieve some tangible success to show to the voters would stimulate politicians to work even harder, also on the European scene.
Despite these serious challenges, the Polish Presidency proved to be both efficient and effective. In a number of areas it pushed forward the EU agenda. It did not introduce any revolutionary changes, but it fulfilled its duties well without any significant embarrassment that would have caused a stir in Brussels and in other capitals.
Shaping the post-Lisbon presidency system
Poland has been the first big EU Member State to hold the Presidency after the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty. Although in 2010 Spain held the EU Presidency, this coincided with the first weeks of the Treaty being in effect, and the Spanish six months had been treated as a transition period, which did not really establish a model of the Post-Lisbon Presidency. Thus the expectations that Poland had to meet had been high.
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Dr Jacek Kucharczyk is a sociologist and policy analyst. He is president of the Executive Board at the Institute of Public Affairs, board member of the European Partnership for Democracy (EDP) in Brussels as well as one of the founders of Policy Association for an Open Society (PASOS), an association of think-tanks from Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia. In the 1980s he was active in the underground student and publishing movement. He is author and editor of numerous policy briefs, articles, reports and books on democratic governance, foreign policy, EU integration and transatlantic relations. His book-length publications (in English) include: “Bridges Across the Atlantic” (2005), “Learning from the experience of West European think-tanks” (2007), ”Democracy’s New Champions. European Democracy Assistance after EU Enlargement” (2008), “Democracy in Poland 1989-2009. Challenges for the Future” (2010) and “Towards a European Demos? Polish Elections to European Parliament in Comparative Perspective” (2010). Dr Kucharczyk frequently comments on current domestic and European affairs and political developments for Polish and international media.
Dr Agnieszka Łada, a political scientist, is Head of the European Programme and analyst in the Institute of Public Affairs; member of the Group of Civil Advisers of the Head of the Council for Foreign Affairs in the Polish Parliament; Member of Team Europe – a group of experts at the Representation of the European Commission in Poland; Member of the Council of the Polish-German Youth Exchange; member of the Board of Directors of the Policy Association for an Open Society (PASOS); member of the Copernicus Group – a group of experts on Polish-German Relations and IPA’s Representative in the European Policy Institutes Network and Active Citizenship Group at the European Commission. Dr. Łada specialises in the following issues: EU-Institutions (European Parliament and EU-Council Presidency), Polish-German relations and Germany, Polish foreign policy, Eastern Partnership, European civil society and the perception of Poles abroad and of other nations in Poland.
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission.
This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.