LUNCHEON MEETING
Polish Foreign Policy and priorities for the Polish Presidency
Another excellent luncheon meeting was organised by Beryl Rodell on October 18th at the Watermill Restaurant in Dorking. Our speaker was Mr Jacek Gajewski, First Counsellor and Head of Political Section, Embassy of Poland in London. Poland has held the Presidency of the European Union for the latter half of 2011 and his talk was entitled Polish Foreign Policy and priorities for the Polish Presidency. With Poland held to be at the “Heart of Europe”, according to the title of Norman Davies’s highly-regarded history, and yet on the edge of the EU, a talk on her foreign policy was bound to be very interesting - and so it was. Ian Stewart penned the following notes.
Mr Gajewski presented the Polish perspective on current EU issues with the experience
and authority of five years in the London embassy following a previous posting to
Prague. Incidentally, he had already presented to other European Movement branch
meetings, so knew what to expect and
was kind enough to compliment the Surrey branch
on our engagement with the issues and the quality of questions (see below)
There were two parts to Mr Gajewski’s presentation: 1) a general picture of Polish foreign policy and 2) priorities for the work currently being undertaken under the Polish Presidency of the European Council July-December 2011.
Polish Foreign Policy
1989 was the clear turning point in recent Polish history with the formation of the first non-communist government in September of that year and the twin goals of EU and NATO membership the main priorities. Poland entered NATO in 1999 and the EU in 2004. Poland balances its relationships with the EU and NATO along with its major partners including the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Sweden, the USA and Canada, with its nurturing of good relations with its immediate neighbours as founder of the Visegrad 4 group of countries. Looking east, Ukraine is a priority for historical and strategic reasons but also because of the Polish community remaining in that country. Normalising relations with Russia is a major priority and Mr Gajewski pointed out that relations between Poland and Germany are now much better than with Russia. The tragic events in Smolensk last year associated with the commemoration of the Katyn massacre in the Second World War have led to a reassessment and improvement in relations with Russia.
Beyond Europe, Poland has taken part in various peacekeeping missions including in Lebanon, Golan Heights and the Balkans, participated in the Iraq operation and is currently in Afghanistan. Poland feels ready to share its know-how on the stabilisation process. There is a growing percentage of foreign aid in the foreign budget.
EU Presidency: three headlines
Economic Growth
Mr Gajewski cited negotiations on improving the functioning of the Single Market and on securing multiannual budgets as two current preoccupations of the Presidency along with the ambition to present to the European Council at the end of the Presidency a detailed map of the national interests of all 27 member states and what could be achieved in 2012 when Denmark and then Cyprus take on the Presidency. Poland was faced with the Eurozone crisis and found not being a Euro member a potential difficulty which it resolved by joining the Europlus pact which allows both Euro and non-Euro members to work on new rules for the EU; Mr Gajewski recognised that the UK had decided not to join the pact and felt that this might lead to problems for the UK in the future
Security
This is focussed on energy security, and the diversification of supplies. Poland is very keen on shale gas along with renewables as part of the energy portfolio
Open Europe
Poland is keen on working with Eastern European partners including Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Moldova and Belarus to encourage reforms towards the ultimate goal of EU membership, thereby raising standards in these countries; Poland had to take account of the Arab Spring in its Presidency aims to ensure that there was EU solidarity shown to events in the Southern Neighbourhood.
Questions (Q) and Answers (A)
Q What plans does Poland have regarding joining the Euro and what exposure do Polish banks have to the problems in Greece, Italy and Spain?
A Joining the Euro is an obligation under the accession treaty but there is no specific timetable. Originally, Poland had thought to join in 2010-11 but the economic crisis in 2007-08 led to a reassessment and a new target of 2017-18. However, recent events have taken this off the agenda and Mr Gajewski felt that the issue is more political than economic. He pointed to the meeting of European Council on Sunday 23 October and the response to German/Eurozone proposals. Polish banks were not heavily involved with sovereign debt because they had not been well connected to European/world banks; strict mortgage policy, there was also a cultural issue in that Poles generally were not keen on loans. There was more rental than ownership of property and the economy still functioned on manufacturing rather than service industries. The recent election and re-appointment of the coalitions demonstrates political stability
Q East Europeans want enlargement but there is less enthusiasm for this in Western Europe in that the more countries we have the more difficult is the decision making process. What opinion did Mr Gajewski have on this?
A EU is not static but a process of integration and enlargement (the original 6 may well have preferred to keep it that way! ). Enlargement has been a success story in terms of stabilisation in historic terms and in economic development but there have been institutional problems. All treaty changes in last 10 years have been about accommodating 27/28 states (Croatia joining in 2013). There are still two groups to come, those in the W Balkans, and those in E Europe, plus Turkey.
Q With more centralisation in Europe, will smaller countries not have to give up some sovereignty?
A anecdote about Luxembourg going to Slovenia in 1991 as President of EU and telling Slovenia that small states had no right to exist!
Q Many young Polish people in the UK are keen, hardworking and often overqualified for the jobs they are doing. What is it in the Polish education system that produces such excellent youngsters?
A Mr Gajewski thanked UK for opening up its market in 2004 and noted that there had been a resulting gain to the UK of EU workers in the country amounting to 1% of GDP in 2008. English is a major foreign language. Germany might have been the more natural country to work in for Poles because of the proximity and economy had the market been open there
Q What are Polish feelings over the jailing in Ukraine of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko?
A Mr Gajewski noted that Poles are well aware from their own history of the ups and downs of transition. Poland had the advantage of having been more exposed to the West prior to the changes, and we must be patient with Ukraine. Other countries such as Spain and Greece had difficult histories immediately prior to EU entry and he was sure that Ukraine would become a full part of Europe. Poland will continue to negotiate free trade area with Ukraine
Q How would Russia view Ukraine as an EU member given the cultural split West/East in the country?
A How Ukraine develops is up to them. European assistance will be to the whole of Ukraine and not one part. There are parallels with other countries in their relations with Russia, eg Finland which had a close bartering arrangement with the Soviet Union but has now established economic ties with Russia, as a member of the EU.
The meeting ended with a round of applause for Mr Gajewksi for his succinct presentation and his stimulating answers to questions.
Ian Stewart
19 October 2011
