Translated material
Reform Summit
Europe needs good neighbors and reliable pipelines
The fate of the European Union's constitutional treaty is the most pressing topic at the summit of a united Europe that opened last night in Brussels. The conflict between presiding Germany and dissident Poland overshadowed all other items on the agenda. Berlin set out to break the deadlock in the process that stumbled in the 2005 referendums in France and the Netherlands on ratification of the draft EU constitution. Without the reform of institutions provided for by the draft constitution, the union of 27 countries risks losing control. Germany, instead of a thick book of constitution, is proposing a compact treaty that would define the organizational structure of the EU.Poland strongly opposes the distribution of votes in the EU Council proposed in the draft and threatens to block any agreement under which decisions would be taken by a majority of member states that make up the majority of the EU population. Warsaw believes that this principle strengthens the influence of large states and diminishes the role of medium-sized ones. Poland is supported by the Czech Republic and partly by Great Britain, which has always opposed the strengthening of unity of command in the EU. However, Polish President Lech Kaczynski, just before the summit, hinted at the possibility of softening his position.
After enlargement in 2004 and 2007, the political life of the European Union became noticeably more complicated. “Ten new EU members came from a different system,” Peter Balazs, a leading researcher at the EU Enlargement Research Center in Budapest, told Vremya Novostey. “They were in the Warsaw Pact, in the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance, they have the same background.” According to the expert, “there is an opinion that these countries have formed a monolithic bloc of newcomers within the EU who negotiate and vote together, but this is not so. They are very different, their positions on different problems are different.”
Relations with Russia are not on the agenda of the Brussels summit. After the May Russia-EU summit in Samara, they froze in the stage of rethinking on both sides. Negotiations on a new basic agreement between the EU and Russia were blocked by the same Poland, offended by the Russian embargo on its meat. Russia believes that the EU has become hostage to the selfish interests of one country. But EU leaders declared in Samara the solidarity of the union countries on the principle of “one for all, all for one.”
Nevertheless, issues that directly affect Russia’s interests will be discussed in Brussels. The summit should adopt a document on the EU strategy in neighboring regions. We are talking about the “New European Neighborhood Policy” adopted after 2004 in relation to countries that are not expected to join the EU in the foreseeable future. These are Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Armenia and even Belarus. And in the future - the Middle East and North Africa. This policy provides funding for democratization and economic reform projects in these countries. Mikulas Dzurinda, a former prime minister of Slovakia and now an expert in influential European “brain trusts,” recalled on this occasion his father’s words he heard as a child: “The price of your house also depends on what kind of neighbors you are.” The European Union needs understandable, predictable and friendly neighbors who profess standard European values.
Peter Balazs noted to VN that the vital interests of the European Union lie in neighboring countries - “security of energy supply, barriers to illegal immigration, development of transport infrastructure, common environmental standards.” The most active participants in the program are members of the GUAM alliance (Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Moldova), the strengthening of which worries Moscow. Brussels notes with alarm the slowdown in democratic processes and reforms in these countries. The draft resolution of the summit provides for strengthening economic integration with the countries of the “new European neighborhood”, creating a common free trade area with them and easing the visa regime.
The premiere of the summit is the approval of the European Union's strategy in Central Asia. United Europe defines its goals, interests and methods for their implementation in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan. The Europeans prudently defended themselves against accusations of an anti-Russian game. Germany's permanent representative in Brussels, Wilhelm Schönfelder, told VN: “The strategy is in no way directed against Russia. Russia and the EU are not competitors in Central Asia. Their strategic interests there complement each other.” According to the diplomat, “there are other major players in the region, for example, the United States and China.” And energy resources are important for the EU: “Perhaps we will talk about the operation of existing pipelines and the construction of new ones.”
According to Peter Balazs, Central Asia is “the second level in the system of the new European neighborhood after the European and Transcaucasian post-Soviet countries.” He does not deny that the EU’s strategic interest in this area is associated with concern for energy sources and transit routes: “The countries of Central Asia are not Europe, we are not yet planning close partnerships with them. In this region, energy is a very important component of politics. When someone plans to lay a pipe, they look for the shortest route. Some pipes go through Russia, others do not. This is reality and no one can monopolize supply routes.”