Date: Friday 13 January 2006
 
Speaker: H.E. Gregor Woschnagg, Permanent Representative of Austria to the EU
Chair: Prince Nikolaus von Liechtenstein, Ambassador of Liechtenstein to the EU, Member of the CEPS Board of Directors
 
H.E. Gregor Woschnagg, Permanent Representative of Austria to the European Union, presented the priorities of the Austrian Presidency during a CEPS lunchtime meeting. He began by emphasising the importance of the cooperation with the Finnish Presidency. Such cooperation had been not only useful, but also necessary, in view of the ever-larger workload that is associated with holding the Presidency of the EU. It could also be considered as an interesting experiment, to test the mechanism foreseen by the EU Constitutional Treaty of three Member States jointly holding the Presidency for an 18-month period. In his view, the fruitful collaboration between Austria and Finland had shown that the system is viable.
 
The Austrian diplomat then explained that the Presidency’s work will be divided into two periods: the preparatory work for the March European Council, which will focus on economic growth and employment and social policy (Lisbon strategy), followed by the run-up to the June European Council, when the work will focus on an “ambitious and realistic sustainable development agenda” as well as on the attempts to restart the debate on the EU Constitutional Treaty.
 
With regard to the first period, the Presidency has asked the Commission to present a report concentrating on research and development. The Austrian government has set itself two main objectives in this area: on the one hand increased flexibility to create research-based jobs, and on the other facilitating the work of SMEs, among other reasons because these are the enterprises that tend to keep their employees even at times of economic recession. One other goal that the Austrians are keen to pursue is the increase of the standards European Universities, which is an idea that was originally floated by the British Presidency at the Hampton Court informal summit.
 
Energy will be another priority of the Austrian Presidency. Here, Woschnagg pointed out that the situation would have been much simpler had the Constitutional Treaty been adopted, since the latter would have provided a clear legal basis for an EU energy policy. The Presidency intends to prepare a document on security of energy supply and on a common electric grid system by February, in order to run it through the Council machinery and produce an official version by March. 
 
Continuing in his outline, the Permanent Representative stressed that his government’s work will focus on those issues where a change can really be made, rather than on 'Blue sky' thinking. In this respect, the Presidency will endeavour to conclude the interinstitutional agreement with the European Parliament on the financial perspectives, and to complete the negotiations on the 42 sectoral agreements that need to be in place before the financial perspectives can be implemented and the funds can be handed out by the Commission. The aim is indeed to finalise all of these technical agreements by March or April at the latest, in order to avoid any delay.
 
In the field of foreign policy, the Presidency will devote attention to the Western Balkans. There, the main challenge will be to overcome the enlargement fatigue that is currently afflicting the EU, and to define the political criteria to underpin a new strategy vis-à-vis countries in the area. To that end, Foreign Ministers of the Western Balkans will be invited to a Gymnich meeting in Salzburg on 10 and 11 March.
 
The other issue that remains on the table is that of the date of accession of Bulgaria and Romania. Commissioner Olli Rehn has promised to produce by 15 May a tough but correct evaluation of the progress of the two candidates, which will be used to determine whether they should be allowed to join as early as January 2007. With regard to this matter, Ambassador Woschnagg also underlined that the pace of ratification of the accession treaty has so far been slow. Only nine member states have ratified so far, and many of the remaining ones are still waiting to see the content of the Commission’s report before taking any steps.
 
Finally, the Austrian representative spoke of the difficult dossier of the EU Constitutional Treaty, which the Presidency is going to handle very carefully. In general, the Presidency intends to re-launch a broad debate on the added value of the European Union. It will organise conferences and events to listen to the citizens as well as to the partner states, to get a better idea of the different sensibilities. In particular, a conference on "The Sound of Europe" will be organised in Salzburg on the occasion of the 250th anniversary of the birth of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and internet platforms will be installed throughout Austria to allow citizens to dialogue with the Presidency and their fellow Europeans. Internet was deemed the most appropriate media to involve the new generation of Europeans, i.e. those who will be affected by the changes that are currently being discussed. At the end of the process, the Presidency hopes to be able, with the help of the citizens, to draw a new roadmap for the future of Europe. This could include, if there was enough support, a return to the EU Constitutional Treaty.