EU-Neighbourhood Policy

Christoforos pavlakis is one of our Young Voices of Europe.

When Croatia started negotiating its membership six years ago, the enthusiasm was great. What do Croatians think, hope and fear in light of the approaching EU-Membership?

Ever since the outburst of the sovereign debt crisis in the eurozone the EU makes the impression of a punch-drunk boxer just before the knock-out. Is the once great European project failing?

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.

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. Jacek Kucharczyk and Agnieszka Łada»

The Polish government announced that the Polish Presidency of the EU was a success. Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s speech before the European Parliament where he summed up the six months of the Polish Presidency was well received and highly appreciated by the parliamentarians. The leader of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats in the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, claimed that: “the Polish Presidency has undoubtedly been one of the best in recent years”. But has it really? What actions were undertaken during the Polish leadership? And particularly, what happened to equality as a priority of the Polish presidency? Joanna Piotrowska»

Greece, as many other countries, has since 2009 faced the second phase of a global-scale capitalist crisis, the sovereign debts crisis. The banks, after being saved during the first phase of the financial crisis with government money, then turned against their saviours by reducing lending for the increasing sovereign debts, which ironically occurred for their sake.

The global economic crisis has not been overcome; its character has merely changed. For us parliamentarians, its most tangible characteristic is the smoldering debt crisis in some Euro countries. Similar to the crisis in the banking sector, the European government debt crisis is typical of a large-scale financial crisis, the "Second Great Depression," and managing it has to be addressed in this context.

The list of priorities of the Polish Presidency does not mention equal opportunities or the fight against discrimination apart from a general statement relating to the need of providing persecuted Christians with help. This does not mean, however, that by neglecting this issue the Polish government can just ignore the necessity to implement such an important EU policy during its presidency.

After a long six months the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union ended in glory on the last day of June 2011. Croat accession negotiations to the EU have now officially closed; the next phase is the drafting of the accession treaty, followed by a referendum in Croatia and ratification in the EU’s 27 national parliaments. Then, hopefully on 1 January 2013, Croatia will become the EU’s 28th Member State. This is probably going to be by far the greatest legacy of the Hungarian Council presidency.