„The Brighter Side of Europe” / Piotr Kaczyński

of the Commission, especially vis-à-vis the largest and most powerful EU
members, became an ongoing challenge. Poles are one-sidedly on the side
of the Commission when its independence is at stake. The Warsaw government
understood well the general rule that the Commission is the natural
ally of the smaller or poorer nations. Its strong position is particularly
necessary when there is a specific problem in a larger member country.
An unbiased approach in applying EU rules is crucial and the central position
of the Commission is the key.
Poles go further and want the Union to develop and run new policies, with
the completion of building the single market being the absolutely central
element. The dearest part for Poland in this process is the future of small-
and medium-sized enterprises. Poland also supports the establishment
of a strong European energy policy in all its dimensions. First, the con-
struction of the interconnectors between national markets should be the basis
for any policy. Second, the development of an internal and external policy for
the Union is important for free-market competition as well as for creating
a better negotiation position for the Union of 27 with third-party partners.
Other new policies also need to be strengthened. Two stand out in particular.
Military and defence cooperation among European member states
is limping. It needs significant improvement if the Union is to be taken
as a credible partner in its own backyard – in the Western Balkans, the
Middle East, the Caucasus or Africa. Second is foreign policy. Until recently
the EU has been better known for its disagreements on major foreign-poli-
cy issues (wars in the Western Balkans in the 1990s, the Iraq war of the 2000s,
Russia, Cuba, the Chinese embargo, the status of Kosovo, and, more recently,
the conflict in Libya) than for its accomplishments. With the new rulebook
in the form the Treaty of Lisbon it has gained new instruments with which
to have more success. Poland strongly supports the EU’s foreign policy and
expects to have input into it.
The deepening of the European project does not only refer to its policies
or institutions. The European budget also needs reform. The Polish stand
on the budget debate is to link it more closely with the Union’s competencies.
Currently large sums are spent on the agriculture and cohesion policies,
as if the EU’s powers had remained unchanged since the 1980s. Make
no mistake – the cohesion and agriculture policies have been largely successful
over the years and Poles want to keep them. However, they support
reforms within the agricultural dossier as long as the basic principle of equal
treatment is respected.
The big discussion about the European budget will be faced in the coming
years. In order to prepare themselves for the difficult negotiations, Poles are
trying to send the message that the current budget is not only not reflecting
the Union’s competencies, but is also extremely small. Less than 1 percent
of the EU’s gross domestic product (GDP) is spent on European Union
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An example of Turkish
needlework art
policies, while national budget revenues are up to 60 percent of national
GDPs. At the same time about a quarter of all laws applicable in member
countries come from the EU. In short, the EU’s responsibilities call for
an increased Union budget – joint management could, in fact, bring savings
to the national accounts through the simple mechanism of the economies
of scale.
This is the big Europe for which Poles advocate – larger, with more powers
and with stronger institutions responsible for an increased budget. How
to keep such a Union running is a challenge. The Polish contribution comes
down to one word – “solidarity”. A bigger Union can be fully manageable
if the principle of solidarity is given similar value as other guiding rules.
After all, the EU is not based only on interests, but also on values. Existing
major divergences can be only addressed with a higher degree of solidarity.
Though the prospect of a “bigger” Union might be distant, some of its elements
are on the European agenda in 2011 and hence on the desk of the
Polish presidency of the Council. The closer macroeconomic cooperation
between European nations is a clear development in terms of “deepening”
the Union. If Croatia finalises its accession negotiations this year, it will join
the club soon, turning EU-27 into EU-28. Once again, a small enlargement
would be coupled with a small treaty revision.
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