Reflections on the Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union: Climate and Energy
Introduction
When the Polish government was preparing to preside over the Council of the EU, no one had suspected that this Presidency would come in such a difficult time for Europe. When Poland was trying to increase its partners' interest in issues of the Eastern Partnership, the revolution in North Africa started. When Poland wanted to sign an association agreement with Ukraine, its president Viktor Yanukovych began the trial against the former Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko, which put an end to Ukraine's closer relationship with the EU. When Poland was preparing for talks on increasing the cooperation in external energy security, the eurozone became endangered and it was necessary to take actions that would save it from collapsing.
During preparations for the Presidency, the Polish government set a number of priorities, of which one dealt with European security including external energy security. The aim was to start a discussion on new solutions both procedural and legislative that could help maintain the competitiveness of the European energy sector in a changing environment. That would allow for working out mechanisms for leading a supportive and competitive external energy policy that would stay in accordance with the Lisbon Treaty.
Choosing such a priority should not be a surprise since 1989, the beginning of Poland's sovereignty, its relations with Russia have been tense. National politicians still remember Russia using gas as a ‘weapon’ against Ukraine and Belarus and they fear the same might happen to Poland. This is where attempts to build the basics of a European energetic solidarity come from.
At this moment it is yet too early to create a full assessment of Poland's Presidency. It will be possible in the near future, when it turns out whether ideas that our negotiators focused on led to deeper changes in the EU's policies. This perspective is necessary in order not to engage in a radical assessment, as has already happened. During the climate conference in Durban, lord John Prescott, the UK’s former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Environment, stated while assessing the work of Polish negotiators during the summit, that these negotiators "ought to speak in the voice of Europe, not Poland ” and furthermore added that British diplomacy would be significantly more effective. In contrast to this, after the speech of Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in the European Parliament in December 2011, Martin Schulz, an MEP from the German social democratic party and the current president of the European Parliament said that in his opinion, the Polish has been the best Presidency of the last 15.
Delivering a complex assessment of the Polish Presidency regarding its climate and energy priorities can, therefore, not be the aim of this paper. The question here is whether the issues Poland focused on during that time make a chance to be a constant part of the debate inside the European Union and Poland.
Does Europe need better energy security?
The definition of energy security has broadened in recent years. Energy security does not simply mean a robustness of energy supply for end users, but it is connected with a financial barrier that limits possibilities for energy use (for example as a result of so called energy poverty), for environment quality or for minimising external costs of energy production. Energy security is also as Europe seems to forget too often ,associated with democratic values and a certainty that applied energy policies do not support anti-democratic attitudes.
Europe needs energy security, because it is dependent on fossil fuel import.
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This project has been funded with support from the European Commission.
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