Our dialogue with the European institutions is focused on two aspects: European Integration and the EU’s External relations.
European Integration
The rejection of the European Constitution in the Netherlands and France in 2005 and of the Treaty of Lisbon in Ireland three years later, left the European institutions in limbo and stagnated the process of further integration. What the future of the EU will look like depends on the way the ratification of the Lisbon treaty is handled, but also on the political will of the new European Parliament, the future Commission and governments and people in all member states. Euroscepticism has its roots in a lack of knowledge and understanding of European history and of the importance of EU institutions and policy for the daily life of citizens. The European Union Office of the Heinrich Böll Foundation supports the process of European integration and strives to make the process transparent.
External Relations
1. Common European Foreign and Security Policy
Despite the development of the European Security Strategy in 2003, the Common European Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) did not make much progress due to the institutional problems of the last years. Yet the EU did not relinquish its operational commitments and deployed some 20 military or civilian operations in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
The Treaty of Lisbon offers considerable improvements regarding the visibility of CFSP and ESDP (to be renamed Common Security and Defence Policy – CSDP) and the EU’s ability to act. These improvements include the appointment of a High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. The new HR would lead both CFSP and CSDP and serve as Vice-President of the Commission and Secretary-General of the Council. The High Representative would be supported by an External Action Service, basically an EU Foreign Office or Diplomatic Corps. Further improvements would include the enlargement of the Union’s scope of action in foreign policy, including the establishment of a new legal basis, as well as new instruments in the area of CFSP. With the ratification of the Lisbon treaty in sight, the discussion on a potential revision of the European Security Strategy (ESS) began. The Irish “No” upset the plans for a consistent strengthening of CFSP and CSDP. The EU - as an important global player – is, however, forced to act. The new US administration will keep reminding the Union of its duty to boost its external engagement, notably in Afghanistan and Iraq.
2. Enlargement
Enlargement has proved to be the most successful instrument of bringing stability, prosperity and security to the areas surrounding the European Union. After the “big bang” enlargement of 2004 when the countries of central and eastern Europe joined the Union and 2007 when Bulgaria and Rumania followed, the prospect of EU membership is currently of importance to the countries of the Western Balkans and Turkey (as well as for a hapless Iceland crippled by the global financial crisis). However, due to the problems with the ratification of the Lisbon treaty and a huge enlargement fatigue which seems to have struck EU governments and populations alike, the enlargement process has slowed down seriously. The accession negotiations with Croatia and Turkey have been continued but without great enthusiasm, and do not seem to be getting anywhere at short term. The perspective for the rest of the Western Balkan countries seems to be fading away.
The Brussels Office of the Heinrich Böll Foundation has supported the accession process through debates, visitors programmes and capacity buildings for young political activists from new member states, accession countries and from countries with an EU perspective (More information can be found here).
3. Neighbourhood Policy
In order to guarantee peace and stability in countries surrounding the European Union which have no membership perspective (at least not on short and medium term) the EU, in 2003, established its Neighbourhood Policy. The ENP offers the EU’s eastern (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine) and southern (Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, the Palestinian Territories, Syria and Tunisia)privileged partnership agreements. The persistent criticism of the ENP as being non-committal has recently led to the establishment of the Union for the Mediterranean and the Eastern Partnership, new forms of cooperation with the EU’s southern and eastern neighbours respectively.
