- In Archive
- 2015-11-14 23:25:35
- 612 Views
[caption id="attachment_29676" align="alignleft" width="2592"] Ambassador Faltz and Professor Jean Crombois. Tsvetelina Miteva for AUBG Daily.[/caption]
Luxembourg is a small country with a population of only 500,000 people, but the input of the country should never be judged by its size when it comes to the contribution to the European integration process, according to the Associate Professor of the Department of Politics and European Studies Jean Crombois.
Luxembourg has held the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union for 12 times now, as one of its founding members. During its previous terms, the country has managed to mediate between major powers and achieve significant results, such as presenting a draft treaty for negotiations on the Treaty of the European Union and launching the biggest enlargement process in the history of the Union in 1997.
The Ambassador of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg to Bulgaria Jean Faltz visited AUBG on Nov. 11. He outlined the priorities, achievements and challenges of the Luxembourg Presidency of the Council of the EU in a lecture organized by professor Crombois.
Faltz explained the principles of the presidency before and after the Treaty of Lisbon. He said they remained largely the same: a member state holds presidency on a rotating basis for six months. It organizes and chairs the meetings of the Council of Ministers, and represents the Council before other EU institutions. Before the Lisbon Treaty, president of the European Council (EC) was the prime minister of the country holding the rotating presidency. The country holding the presidency also had to deal with foreign affairs with the help of the European Commission.
The Lisbon Treaty made the position of the president of the EC permanent to ensure the coherency and continuity of the policies the Council pursues. It also created the position of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, who chairs the meetings of the Foreign Affairs Council and is in charge of foreign policy. The powers of agenda setting have diminished considerably, Faltz said. The country holding the presidency has little leeway, since the direction is dictated by the long-term agenda adopted by the European Council and the Commission.
[caption id="attachment_29673" align="alignleft" width="2592"] Ambassador of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg to Bulgaria Jean Faltz. Tsvetelina Miteva for AUBG Daily.[/caption]
Faltz outlined the priorities of the Luxembourg presidency, which are based on seven pillars. The presidency aims to stimulate investment to boost growth and employment, promote capital markets and sustainable development initiatives based on research and innovation. Another goal is to deepen the European Union's social dimension by focusing on social investment and improving social governance. Managing migration by combining freedom, justice and security through an efficient immigration policy is another priority. The presidency also aims to revitalize the Single Market by focusing on its digital dimension, and to discuss the future design of the internal energy market for electricity.
In order to place European competitiveness in a global and transparent framework, the presidency’s goal is to promote return to growth and boost employment within a framework of solidarity and budgetary discipline, as well as secure transparency on the exchange of information regarding tax rulings. Another priority is to promote sustainable development by accelerating the transition towards a green economy with low greenhouse gas emissions. In terms of strengthening the European Union's presence on the global stage, the presidency aims to develop existing relations with the European Union's closest partners and will work with adopting annual enlargement conclusions.
Faltz said it is difficult to draw conclusions about their achievements right now because some undertakings, like the Banking Union, can go on for years. In terms of migration, which is problem number one that Europe faces now, “things are heating up and it might bring Europe to the brink of collapse,” according to the ambassador. “We are concerned that the Schengen zone might implode, which is a tremendous step backwards, since the Schengen zone is a great achievement.”
There were five meetings of justice and home affairs ministers, two meetings of the European Council on a package solution, as well as the Western Balkan route meeting during the current presidency. The ambassador said that the leaders of the member states are trying to find a compromise on the relocation, border management, hotspots creation and registration centers, but implementation is too slow so far.
An important achievement by the Justice and Home Affairs Council is the agreement on the reform of the European Court of Justice, Faltz said. According to him, by 2019 the number of judges will be doubled to improve the efficiency of decision-making. The new gender parity clause will ensure equal representation of both sexes in the Court. Another success by the presidency is the decision by the European Parliament to abolish roaming charges by 2017 and adopting a new legislation on net neutrality which will enter into force shortly.
Faltz discussed the basic challenges the EU is confronted with, which cannot be resolved in one presidency. In terms of external relations, the ambassador said there is not much to achieve soon regarding the instability in the Middle East, the complicated relations with Russia and the crisis in Ukraine.“Trust has been substituted with mistrust and the post-Cold War goal seems to have vanished,” he said. Relations with Turkey are not easy either because of increasing polarization and the democratization process is going backwards rather than forward.
[caption id="attachment_29672" align="alignleft" width="2592"] Ambassador Faltz talking about the priorities of the Luxembourg presidency. Tsvetelina Miteva for AUBG Daily.[/caption]
Faltz said the idea of the politicians of the past that the economic union will be followed by a political union is far from the truth today. The economic crisis illustrated by the situations in Greece and Portugal still remains a challenge for the EU. Faltz said he is not so pessimistic about the crisis because the EU has one of the strongest economies in the world and maintains high standards of social laws.
The ambassador said the EU is in its deepest crisis since its creation because of contradictions brought by the economic and migrant crises. “In the more optimistic days we underestimated the diversity of Europe,” he said. Forming a union takes longer time than expected. Faltz said the EU was thought to be a community of destiny and solidarity, which seems to be questionable today. “Solidarity is a fundamental principle of the EU and if we lose it, it affects the fundamental values the EU was built on,” he said. So far there has been no solidarity on migration, and the crisis has proven the inefficiency of the EU's decision-making. The delayed implementation of the agreed-upon measures puts European credibility into question.
"I think such events are very important for political science and European studies students, because we can meet diplomats and officials in person, which is a great opportunity," a second-year student Natallia Khadzkova said.
"I believe events like this are really helping students see the inside view on structures, institutions, and processes that are studied in class," a second-year student Iulita Osichenko said. "It was inspiring to see a person with a European vision sharing his experience and knowledge on what a country goes through during the rotating presidency. I am also really glad we have people who organize such events on campus; it probably requires a lot of planning, and we appreciate their efforts."
Ambassador Faltz finished with the words of the current President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, who said that there are two problems in the European Union – not enough Europe and not enough Union. Faltz said that if the EU does not take the crisis under control, the consequences will be much more dramatic.