TOUGH TIMES FOR THE POLISH EU PRESIDENCY

After the listless Hungarian presidency much is expected from Poland at the helm of the Council of the European Union. After all it is the last “heavyweight” country before the “fate of the Union” is laid into the hands of moderately-sized Member States like Denmark, Cyprus and Lithuania with presidencies by crisis-ridden Ireland and Greece looming in the not so far future. But what can the Poles actually do? They come well-prepared and with an ambitious agenda, but they will have to be careful not to get stuck between a rock and a hard place. After all, they will have to show leadership in the fight against the crisis in the eurozone - without being a member - against a backdrop of popular revolts against the drastic austerity measures in the countries hit hardest by the crisis and the impact of populist anti-EU parties in others; they will have to find a way to respond to the developments in the southern neighbourhood of the EU where they would have preferred to focus on the eastern neighbours and on top of everything they are facing elections in their own country in the middle of the presidency. And last but not least: the Lisbon Treaty limits the powers of the rotating presidency, especially in the field of foreign policy, but in many respects there is still scope for the Polish presidency to define its room for manoeuvre. Will the Polish presidency be able to provide the leadership the EU so badly needs in tough times like these?

Speakers:
- Tomasz Husak Second Secretary; ANTICI, Permanent Representation of the Republic of Poland to the  European Union
- Piotr Kaczynski, Research Fellow, Centre for European Policy Studies, Brussels
- Agnieszka Lada, Head of the European Programme/Analyst, Institute of Public Affairs, Warsaw
                  
Moderator:
Marianne Ebertowski, director Common Foreign and Security Policy, Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union

With the support of the “Europe for Citizens”-Programme of the European Union.