Laatste 'Meet the Presidency' bijeenkomst (en)

With the outcome of the 8-9 December European Council still the main topic of conversation at the European Parliament, the Polish Presidency held its final ‘Meet the Presidency’ meeting on Tuesday with the topic ‘Quo vadis Europa?’. The meeting was held in association with The Spinelli Group.

Opening the meeting, Maciej Szpunar, Poland’s Undersecretary of State for Legal and Treaty Affairs, said he was happy that there was no real ‘split’ of member states into two groups (those in the eurozone, and those currently outside). This outcome would have diminished the key concept of the EU, he said.

Instead, the minister added, one country has isolated itself from the discussions due to a disagreement about the form of the next steps (although the minister highlighted that there was general agreement on the substance). This new arrangement does raise questions about the use of the institutions, said Mr Szpunar, but he added that he “cannot imagine a new treaty without an adequate role for the European institutions, including the European Parliament”.

Andrew Duff MEP (ALDE, UK), Co-Chair of the Spinelli MEP Group, chaired the meeting, and highlighted the uncertainty that reigns - and concerns that a new treaty “might help - but then again, it might not”. Mr Duff introduced the other two speakers - Alain Lamassoure MEP (EPP, France), Chair of the Parliament’s Budgets Committee, and Elmar Brok MEP (EPP, Germany), former Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee.

Mr Lamassoure, speaking in a personal capacity, said that the outcome of the summit was political - and now the challenge was to develop a legal text. He said that before the European Council he had been sceptical about developing a new treaty, and suggested that the EU’s existing ‘enhanced cooperation’ rules may be a better route. However, he ended on a positive note, saying that the new political reality should be seen as an opportunity as much as a challenge. Mr Brok added that this is not a split in the EU, said Mr Brok, but the isolation of one country - which can be healed.

Several other MEPs took the floor, including Roberto Gaultieri (S&D, Italy), Bill Newton Dunn (ALDE, UK), Adrian Severin (NI, Romania) and Gerald Haefner (Greens/EFA, Germany).

Concluding the meeting, Mr Szpunar said that this was a time for innovation in dealing with Europe’s problems. He highlighted that the long-running problem of developing an EU patent was solved through the use of enhanced cooperation - and Europe should be equally innovative in addressing difficulties in its governance.

Meet the Presidency has been an initiative of the Polish Presidency to foster better dialogue between the Council Presidency and MEPs. Four meetings were held, on the State of the Union, the European Endowment for Democracy, Climate Change, and this final meeting, with The Spinelli Group, on ‘Quo Vadis Europa?’. The Presidency would like to thank The Spinelli Group for agreeing to be associated with and participate in Tuesday’s meeting.