There is a lack of general leadership within the EU. People do not know what to do with the crisis and no-one is providing the desperately needed political leadership. There is also the sticky issue of external and internal borders. Two options facing the European Union, either work on past achievements or close in the face of difficult challenges.
Socialists, Liberals and Greens support the case for a more open Europe project. Germany, France and Britain are the key players within the EU. So one should be asking why the presidency rotates around the member states and what makes a good presidency?
Most national governments within Europe are formed of coalition governments and there is widespread Euroscepticism. Numerous vested interests play their part in the small (national) versus big state (EU). The multi party governments and many coalitions should make it easy to build good relationships, as well as establish networks in Brussels which are extremely important. Domestic politics affects the presidency. Euroscepticism has a sliding scale and the different degrees should be noted from opposition to the EU and the membership to qualified opposition in some policy areas like the lack of democracy.
The semi-presidentialism which means a twin headed leadership from directly elected presidents and prime ministers within the European Union. European integration is at an all time low and a strong presidency is needed to get the show on the road again. The Greek’s and German’s hostility towards one another is a problem and Britain seems like it could not care less. The debate on the future of Europe needs to be had but first the economic problems need to be solved before politics can be sorted out.
There should be optimism and the hunger for solutions to tackle the problem, maybe the Polish optimism will rub off on the rest of the Union. The Poles experienced the freedom of open borders and freedom of the markets within the last 25 years which might account for some of their optimism. A large number of Polish people support the idea of European integration as most people felt the country benefited and just under half of the population felt they have personally benefited from EU integration.
The political orientation of a good presidency whether being left or right leaning should not really matter. What should matter is that a successful presidency needs to be ambitious.
It’s all about the economy baby
Poland is not a member of the Euro group, the Lisbon Treaty challenges the presidency and Poland is only a medium sized country. That aside Poland is a country where a former truck driver can rise up to become the prime minister of the country.
Solidarity has a special meaning for Polish people because it’s an expression of enlightened self interest. The EU seems to be forgetting about solidarity and is not learning from the mistakes of the past. This is a serious era of judgement.
The complacency of prosperity in the Western world during the last 25 years makes it hard for the rescheduling of debt, structural reforms, and privatisation in people’s self interest that contributes to economic growth. We can question whether the single market benefits everyone, but Europe is still one of the better places to live even with the economic crisis.
Not everybody understands the link with the European crisis to the rest of the world – it’s in the best interests of everybody that the Greek situation is sorted out. Today the crisis has meant that the Euro is functioning on two separate speeds. The different mental approaches to the crisis are creating the big divisions with the Euro.
The behaviour of the ratings agencies is adding to the problem of the debt crisis and the single monetary policy has not produced fiscal restrictions. We seem to want more Europe for the same money. Simplification of management should be implemented.
Should we be transporting today’s financial realities into future predictions in relation to budget increases? We can start a debate on revenue and expenditure but can’t really go forward in that debate due to certain vested interests within Europe. Everyone wants to protect their own interests when its deliverables that are needed right now rather than just intentions.
Europe’s relative position will continue to decline in the coming years which will make it hard for Europe to still compete on the global stage. Single markets, budgets, integration are all important ingredients in the future competitiveness of the European Union.
Some of the problems occur with the mismatch of institutions dealing with the economic crisis. European growth is being treated in the European Council. The foreign policy issue is directed towards the high representative rather than the revolving presidency. Understand who has responsibility for what is a task in itself.
Another issue that is not being looked at is within the race for growth in the bright future, what happens to the unskilled people who will not be able to compete for high tech, multi-skilled jobs? Should we enlarge the EU or take in other people from outside of the EU? Immigration is seen as a source of growth for the US but as a problem for the EU. Maybe it’s the old cultural problem of the countries in Europe being able to integrate immigrants, thus seen as a headache rather than growth. The problem of the model where highly skilled workers control the economy and unskilled people were left to service the high skilled people – this model needs revising.
There are some big challenges for the Polish presidency but let’s live in hope. The Poles are extreme social networkers and feel very comfortable navigating around the EU. The Polish presidency has a strong mandate from the Polish people and we should remember that without a strong support of the people you cannot run a country.