Date: 13 July 2003

Speaker: Jan Peter Balkenende, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
Introduction: H. Onno Ruding, Chairman of the CEPS Board of Directors

 
Jan Peter Balkenende, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and current holder of the EU Presidency, outlined the priorities of his government for the six months it will spend in the EU driving seat at a CEPS dinner debate.
 
His speech was passionate, pragmatic and determined, focusing on three main issues, namely economic growth, security and values. Referring to evidence from the Eurobarometer surveys, he sought to dispel the myth that EU citizens are detached from the Union. People are still supportive of European integration in many fields, albeit in some areas they would like to retain more power at the national level.
 
Balkenende explained in a rather down-to-earth manner that the issues of “food on the table” and “knowing that one is secure” are high on the Dutch Presidency’s agenda. Nevertheless, because of the recent changes such as the enlargement to ten new member states, the European parliamentary elections and the soon-to-be appointed European Commission, these goals will have to be pursued in a different way, paying more attention to ‘process management’ and to the values underpinning European integration.
 
With regard to enlargement, the Dutch prime minister stressed that his country is well-positioned to ensure that the increased cultural diversity within the EU is respected and taken into account when it comes to making decisions. The aim is to make sure that all the member states feel they are being treated fairly and that all of them are given “enough opportunities to satisfy their own interests”. Indeed, one of Dr Balkenende’s goals is for the Netherlands to succeed in being a “Presidency for all 25 member states”. In his view, fairness and trust will also be important elements in the decision on whether to start accession negotiations with Turkey in December.
Concerning the recent parliamentary elections, the speaker repeatedly underlined the importance of values and ideals, and of understanding what the EU stands for. In this respect, Dr Balkenende feels that, although values are a matter of great interest for EU citizens, not enough has been done so far at the political level to communicate that European integration is not only about regulations but also retaining the common values we share. To redress this situation, the Dutch Presidency intends to organise a series of conferences about the European model of civilisation and European values.
 
Moving back to the issue of the economy, the Dutch prime minister explained that for the EU to start growing again, it will be necessary to implement much-needed reforms. In fact, unless change is brought about in various areas, the Lisbon agenda is doomed. In particular, it will be necessary to cut back on red tape and do away with “administrative rules that torment European entrepreneurs”. Four presidencies of the EU (Ireland, Luxembourg, the UK and the Netherlands) have joined forces to reform EU legislation in this direction, introducing in particular the concept of impact assessment already in use in the Netherlands. Equally damaging to the EU’s growth is the “legal barbed wire that the EU is putting around every inch of the internal market”, which hinders the free movement of services, by now the most important of the four freedoms, since it is from services that member states derive most of their economic growth.
 
On top of these constraints, there is a productivity problem, arising from the fact that people in the EU work less than in competing countries. The question is whether the EU can still afford this attitude. Moreover, Dr Balkenende believes that labour market regulations will have to become more flexible, such as through a relaxation of EU law on dismissal – the assumption being that if the labour rules are less rigid, employers will be more inclined to hire new people.
 
Confronted with these problems, the European Union is not using the tools already at its disposal rapidly enough. From this point of view, decision-makers could probably learn from the experience of the new member states, which in the last ten years have had to go through substantial processes of reform, turning their economies inside out. In Dr Balkenende’s words, old Europe “could make good use of that dynamism and determination” to gather the courage to implement long-overdue structural reforms.
 
The Dutch prime minister indicated four practical steps to tackle the above-mentioned problems:
a)      full respect of the treaty rules on the internal market and monetary union, which requires strong determination on the part of the European Commission given its monitoring role;
b)      greater involvement of the European Council in the debate on economic growth;
c)       an increased effort by the European Commission to boost EU economic growth, while avoiding the defence of vested interests; and
d)      the development of new tools with which to equip the Commission to enable it to encourage member states to introduce economic reforms.
 
Finally, Balkenende turned to the issue of security, highlighting the trade-off between freedom and security. With regard to the fight against crime in particular, he stressed that actions must be taken at EU level to counter the organised crime that takes advantage of the EU’s open borders and the loopholes in national legislation. Again, the speaker quoted statistics that show the overwhelming support by EU citizens for joint decisions and actions in this field. But increasing security also means strengthening the transnational protection of citizen’s rights. In this perspective, the prime minister floated the idea of a "single market" for civil law judgments.
The other side of the coin is represented by asylum and immigration policies. Increased cooperation is needed in this field as well, to avoid the phenomenon of ‘country-shopping’, to which Balkenende attracted attention by mentioning that 7% of those persons who seek asylum in a member state have already failed to obtain it in another. In such cases the only solution may be in the form of a common migration-and-return policy along with a common asylum procedure.
 
To conclude, Prime Minister Balkenende quoted former Czech President Vaclav Havel who once said that Europe is an area characterised by a certain sense of “will and responsibility”. Dr Balkenende declared himself ready to accept the responsibility of building a common EU, with citizens’ concerns at its heart.
 
Read the full text of Prime Minister Balkenende’s speech