Belgium Taking the Wheel – What Direction for EU Foreign Policy?
Annemie Neyts-Uyttebroeck MEP, ELDR Party President, Minister of State, Belgium
On 1st July, caretaker Prime Minister Yves Leterme of Belgium will take over the reins from his Spanish counterpart José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero to lead only the second EU Presidency after the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. With one of the main targets of the Treaty being to bolster the Union’s ability to speak with one coherent voice in international affairs; what can we expect the Belgian Presidency to achieve in this area during its six months at the helm?
Although six months is virtually no time in the political process, I expect the Belgian Presidency to be good for the EU’s foreign policy. I would identify three major issues on which we can expect progress. Let me though start with stating a few fundamental facts.
The Lisbon Treaty, contrary to occasional claims of populist slanderers, is fruitful for the EU, as essentially it provides a well needed improved framework in comparison to the former compromise Treaty of Nice. It creates a High Representative (HR) for Foreign and Security Policy with an own corps of staff. It aims to create a Chairman of the European Council – and it makes a clear split of the former General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC) into two independent ones, thereby further promoting and institutionalising the Union’s de facto importance in Foreign Affairs. Through close collaboration with the rotating EU Presidency and the European Parliament, there can be increased continuity and visibility for the EU’s ambitions.
Rome was not built in a day, it is popularly said. The same goes for the EU’s collective foreign policy. A sui generis project like this has to be assembled piece-by-piece, similar to a puzzle, to ensure that potential concerns of stakeholders are taken into account and that it can develop into the long-term project that it is set out to be.
Being naturally at the heart of Europe and convinced Europeans, I believe Belgium is in an ideal position to continue assembling that puzzle. In addition to reinforcing the structures of the Lisbon Treaty, I would hope to be able to come back in December to salute the Belgian Presidency for the successful implementation of the following three important issues:
- Getting the External Action Service operational
At the time of writing, intense finalisation negotiations are ongoing. It is imperative that we do not lose momentum on this issue, that well handled will prove extremely useful in a range of issues; from representation of the EU to conflict management.
- Continuing negotiations for EU enlargement
Croatia, Iceland Macedonia and Turkey are all official EU candidate countries. I would hope to see Croatia finalising the chapters of the acquis communautaire before 2011, and the others to make good progress. I would also expect applicant countries, notably on the Western Balkans to make significant progress. Good intentions for this can be seen in the recent developments of visa facilitation for Albania and Bosnia & Herzegovina.
- Putting flesh on the bones of the EU 2020 Strategy.
We cannot afford another ten years of limited growth, symbolised by the so called Lisbon Strategy of 2000. The EU 2020 Strategy, adopted by the recent European Council Summit, needs to be swiftly put in place with appropriate measures, such as recommended by inter alia the European Parliament.
As we, liberals, have pointed out time and again – the so called open method of coordination where peer pressure is supposed to encourage faltering Member States to take action has proven not to work properly. The Commission needs to be in charge of the Strategy, and it needs to have concrete targets connected to sanctions if these are not fulfilled. With many other parts of the world doing swift economic and societal progress, Europe cannot afford to get this wrong.