European Union

A lot of interesting marches of progress will take or not take place in West Balkans during 2009. I try to keep my finger on the pulse of developments at least in Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia (including Kosovo) where the most interesting events will occur, I suppose. The today’s topics are mostly related to historical past of the region, its different approaches towards EU, its role as playground of international politics and its various domestic tensions. Here I shortly describe few of these issues and their background. 

Several of the eight judges in charge of examining whether the EU's Lisbon Treaty is compatible with the German constitution have expressed scepticism about the constitutional effects of further EU integration. According to reports in the German media, the debate during the crucial two-day hearing starting on Tuesday (10 Februrary) on the treaty centred on criminal law and the extent to which it should be the preserve of member states rather than the EU.

In all, four of the eight judges questioned the Lisbon Treaty.

On Wednesday, the court is to examine article 146 of Germany's constitution, which says that a referendum may be called if the constitutional order in the country is changed to the detriment of Germany's current constitution – the Grundgesetz or Basic Law. The court could therefore ask for a referendum, concludes the Suedeutsche Zeitung.

Macedonia has its sights set on opening membership negotiations with the EU and NATO this year, goals that hinge on two main criteria. One is the country's local and presidential vote, scheduled for March 22nd. The other is a solution to the ongoing name dispute with Greece. Both present serious challenges.

After meeting Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Ivica Dačić in Brussels yesterday (9 February), Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn advised Belgrade not to rush with its formal application for EU membership, admitting that the political climate is not good for enlargement.

With the EU-Serbia Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) not yet having entered into force, the European Commission considers membership application as premature, the commissioner explained.  Serbia ratified the agreement last September (EurActiv 09/09/08), but on the EU side, the same process is on hold, as the Netherlands wants the country to "fully cooperate" with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. In other words, The Hague first wants war criminal Ratko Mladic to be captured and brought to justice.  In a significant shift of vocabulary, Rehn even refrained from referring to the EU's 'enlargement policy', instead preferring the expression "EU policy for stabilisation and societal progress in the Western Balkans". He said this is because the political context in the EU is not favourable to enlargement at present. 

EU member states have begun talks on who could be the next Special Representative of the bloc in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with five countries having declared official candidates for the job. The UK, Greece, Estonia, Austria and Italy had put forward potential candidates by Monday (9 February), diplomatic sources told EUobserver, not excluding the possibility of more candidates emerging in the next days.

Once member states complete the list of candidates to replace him, it is to be submitted to EU high representative Javier Solana who is to make a final proposal to the Political and Security Committee (PSC) – a key EU foreign policy body. The final candidate will then be endorsed by EU member states.

Final approval by the Peace Implementation Council – the body regrouping all countries engaged in supervising the peace process in Bosnia – in March would mark the end of the process. EU member states at the end of last year expressed their readiness to "step up" the EU role in Bosnia and Herzegovina and to work to achieve a "transition from the Office of the High Representative (OHR) to a stronger European Union presence." However, Bosnia's slow pace of reforms could put in doubt the closure of the OHR (planned for June) and consequently the reinforcement of the EU's role.

Germany's highest court will today (10 February) begin a hearing on whether the EU's Lisbon treaty undermines the country's own constitution by weakening the power of the national parliament. The hearing is to last two days, an exceptionally long time, seen as an indication of how seriously the court is taking the challenge.

The judges will look at whether the Lisbon Treaty - designed to improve decision-making in the EU - is not democratic, and therefore anti-constitutional, because it takes away power from Germany's parliament.

So far, the treaty has been through most of the process - it has been approved by both houses of parliament and signed by Germany's president. But the final step of ratification, handing the papers over in Rome, has been postponed pending the court decision. The judgement is expected to be made in two to three months. But even if the court comes out in favour of the Lisbon Treaty, the process may not be over. Last month, a separate group handed in another complaint on the treaty, listing political and economic faults. The court has yet to decide whether to take on the case. Elsewhere, the fate of the treaty remains uncertain too. The Czech Republic has yet to begin ratification of the treaty, while Ireland is facing a second referendum on the document after its citizens rejected it last June. Poland's President, meanwhile, has said he will not sign the treaty until it has been accepted in Ireland.

For the first time ever, the president of the European Commission joined the Munich security conference over the weekend, a meeting of European, US and Russian leaders.

"I believe this is the first time a president of the European Commission has been invited to speak at the Munich Security Conference. Could this mean the Commission is thinking of strengthening its divisions of bureaucrats with those of the military kind? Or in fact does it mean that the security dimension is widening beyond its hard military core?" Mr Barroso said in his speech, sent to the media in a press release.

PM Nikola Gruevski, who participates at the 45th Munich Security Conference, in his speech urged forum's participants to demonstrate political will in an attempt to make the final step towards Balkans' integration to Europe and Euro-Atlantic structures.

It is unfortunate, he added, that Macedonia despite meeting all the required conditions and criteria and gaining recognition from the Alliance considering our military, political and social reforms, the country's invitation for NATO membership was delayed for an unspecified period, while the reason for leaving more than two million people out of the sphere of freedom, security and democracy of NATO is our constitutional name. Greece's claim that the Republic of Macedonia represents a threat for its national sovereignty is not accurate, underlined Gruevski adding that Macedonia has changed the Constitution and national flag, while remaining devoted to finding a joint solution.

he position of the most powerful person in Bosnia and Herzegovina will change its occupier for the sixth time in the history of this top international office. The current High Representative of the international community, who is also the EU's Special Representative, will step down from the post as soon as his successor will be named. Miroslav Lajcak, an experienced Slovak diplomat, who has since July 2007 actively participated in the political developments of Bosnia and Herzegovina, was appointed Slovak Foreign Minister two weeks ago and the unexpected announcement of his resignation was published by the end January. What does it mean for Bosnia and Herzegovina?

The three nationalist parties in Bosnia and Herzegovina have signed an agreement, which according to the local press, could signal the country’s partition.

Should the agreement receive parliamentary support, then the division would be sealed. The three parties – SNSD for the Serbs, SDA for the Muslim Bosnians and HDZ BiH for the Croats - do not have a majority and need the support of other political players.  The Banja Luka agreement was signed only days after the departure of Miroslav Lajčák, the high representative of the international community in Bosnia and Herzegovina, who became Slovakia's foreign minister.  It is still unclear if the position of high representative of the international community in the Balkan country will be maintained. Le Monde writes that once again, the international community appears to have no coherent strategy for Bosnia and Herzegovina. 

A majority of Czechs want their parliament to ratify the Lisbon Treaty, according to a poll published on Wednesday (28 January). The number of those in favour of the treaty has grown among followers of all political parties and reached 64 percent – an increase of 19 percent compared to October, according to survey publisher STEM polling.

The Czech Republic currently holds the rotating six-month EU presidency and both those who understand the treaty and those who do not have said this fact raises their country's profile in Europe. This could explain their current stronger support for the Lisbon Treaty, the STEM analysts explain.

Germany's constitutional court has been handed a second complaint over the EU's Lisbon Treaty with the potential to delay the country's final ratification of the document for several months. The new legal action, running to over 200 pages, is concerned with economic as well as political issues, which the complainants say are not addressed by the Lisbon Treaty.

They say that the constitutional court cannot approve the Lisbon treaty because it "strengthens the current practice of dismembering the division of powers and mixing of competences." The complaint is being brought by Markus Kerber, a commercial lawyer, Dieter Spethmann, a former chief executive of Thyssen, former MEP Franz Ludwig Graf Stauffenberg and economist Joachim Starbatty.

The court now has to decide whether it will accept to proof their case. If it does, it is likely to take several months to come to a decision. This could delay the German government's timetable for the treaty, which it would like in place across the bloc by the end of the year.

The European Commission has suggested forming a special group to help solve the lengthy Croatia–Slovenia border dispute and Finnish former president and Nobel Peace Prize winner Martti Ahtisaari could be the person chairing it. "Commissioner Rehn has discussed with President Martti Ahtisaari and explored whether he would be available to chair a senior expert group in order to facilitate a solution on the border issue between Slovenia and Croatia," Krisztina Nagy, spokesperson for EU enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn, told journalists on Friday (23 January).

Croatia on Thursday spoke out in favour of the move, with Prime Minister Ivo Sanader "hailing" the European Commission's proposal. "Such an initiative to move away from a frozen position and blocked Croatian [EU] talks is certainly welcomed," he was quoted as saying by Croatian news agency HINA. Slovenia, however, has had a more cautious reaction. "It is too early to say" whether Ljubljana supports the proposal, the country's foreign minister Samuel Zbogar said, according to Slovenian news agency STA.

Croatia's on-going border dispute with Slovenia must be solved within the next few weeks or the country is unlikely to conclude EU talks by the end of the year as planned, the MEP in charge of the dossier has warned. In his report on Croatia's EU progress, approved by deputies in the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee on Wednesday (21 January), Austrian Socialist MEP Hannes Swoboda says that the goal of concluding negotiations in 2009 can be achieved, "provided the government of Croatia steps up its efforts to address some of the more sensitive issues linked with the accession process, including fighting organised crime and corruption." Croatia's premier, Ivo Sanader (l), and EU enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn (r). (Photo: European Communities, 2008) Print Comment article window.google_render_ad(); But the MEP told this website that although "in the official report we want to give a clear message that this is still possible," in reality this date is becoming increasingly "difficult to reach." "Only if the border issue is solved in the coming three to four weeks, then it is possible. Because otherwise, technically there is not enough time to deal with the issues of the chapters."

As of now, Croatia – an EU candidate since 2004 and aiming to become full EU member by 2011 at the latest – has opened 22 chapters of the 35 contained in its accession package, and closed seven. Referendum – an 'unacceptable' threat Recently, Slovenia also raised the threat of a referendum on Croatia's EU membership if the border issue is not solved – a move strongly criticised by the Austrian MEP. The threat is "absolutely counterproductive. Already now with the very negative or relatively negative attitude of the Slovene population – if we can believe opinion polls – I have to see [the idea] very critically," Mr Swoboda said.

European Union member states are sharply divided over whether to condemn Israel for its bombing of UN schools and other buildings during its 23-day war on Gaza. Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Romania are opposed to condemning the shelling of UN Relief and Works Agency infrastructure and do not want the EU to call for an international investigation of alleged war crimes by both Israel and the Hamas governors of Gaza, according to sources close to discussions amongst EU diplomats.

At the other end of the table, a coalition of five member states, Belgium, Cyprus, Greece, Ireland and Sweden, is demanding that the bloc call for an international investigation in its conclusions to come out of a meeting of EU foreign ministers next week.

Germany's constitutional court is preparing for an unusually long hearing on the EU's Lisbon treaty in a process that will help determine the fate of the document across the European Union. Over two days next month (10-11 February) the court's judges will discuss whether the treaty breaches Germany's constitution.

The court is considering a complaint brought by conservative MP Peter Gauweiler, who has argued that the treaty infringes on the rights given to German citizens in their country's constitution by allowing a foreign court - the European Court of Justice - to decide upon such issues. He also argues that the treaty undermines the power of Germany's own parliament, the Bundestag.

The Czech Republic, Poland and Ireland also have yet to complete ratification. The Czech parliament is due to debate the charter at the beginning of February. If it passes parliament, it then faces another hurdle in the shape of the country's eurosceptic president, Vaclav Klaus, who must also give his approval. Ireland is having another go at ratifying the treaty after it was rejected by Irish citizens last June. The second referendum will take place in the autumn. The result will directly influence Poland's treaty situation. Polish President Lech Kaczynski has said he will only give the nod to the treaty if Ireland's referendum produces a Yes vote.

The ratification of the Lisbon treaty in the Czech senate will be "very problematic" if the EU protocols promised to the Irish for a second referendum are not adopted, Ludek Sefzig, head of the EU affairs committee in the Czech senate told EUobserver. A former member of the European Parliament and currently a Czech senator from the conservative ODS party, Mr Sefzig was present on Monday (19 January) in Brussels at a joint debate with national parliaments on EU policies in the area of justice and home affairs.

"We interrupted our ratification procedure because we have more time for discussions now after the Irish No and we prepare our own rules of procedure in both chambers. We will continue the ratification procedure in two months. During this time we will finish our amendments," Mr Sefzig explained. The issue at stake was the transfer of powers, especially in the area of justice and home affairs, from national to an EU level, where Mr Sefzig as well as other senators feared that decisions could be taken behind closed doors and without parliamentary control.

Poland will not complete the final step of ratification for the EU's Lisbon treaty until after Ireland has had its second referendum on the document, the Polish president has reiterated. While noting that his country does not intend to be an obstacle to the bloc's ratification of the text, Lech Kaczynski said he would only sign off on the treaty if Irish citizens say Yes in the new vote, expected in autumn.

The president's tough stance comes despite the Polish parliament's foreign affairs committee on Tuesday passing a resolution for him to yield. "The parliament requests the president to respect the will of both houses of parliament and to finish the process of ratification as quickly as possible," the resolution - which is to be voted on in plenary on Thursday - says, according to Rzeczpospolita.

Besides Ireland and Poland, Germany - which is awaiting a ruling by its highest court on legal challenges to the text - and the Czech Republic have also not yet ratified the EU treaty.

The first hearing in the case of Macedonia versus Greece is due to start on Monday at the International Court of Justice in The Hague. The hearing will cover procedural issues that should determine the future course of the case that is expected to last no less than three years. The court should then set a date for both sides to submit their arguments, and schedule their presentation.The lawsuit is a side-effect of the 18-year old dispute between the two countries over Macedonia's name.

The Greek team in The Hague comprises the ambassador to the Netherlands, Konstantinos Rallis, diplomat Yorgos Savaidis and Foreign Ministry legal advisor Maria Telalian. Macedonia will be sending its long-standing name negotiator in the UN, Nikola Dimitrov, filling in for  Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki.A new round of UN-mediated talks between the two states has been scheduled for next month, but in the current climate, observers expect little more that diplomatic niceties.

Nearly half of Slovenians would take part in a referendum on Croatia's EU membership and most would reject their neighbour's entry into the 27-national bloc, a new survey has shown. The poll, published in Croatian weekly Globus on Wednesday (14 January), indicates that 48.2 percent of Slovenians would vote in a referendum on Croatia's EU membership, while 31.5 percent would not.

Some 47.5 percent of those asked would be against Croatia's EU entry, while 36.8 percent would support it. Slovenia has repeatedly raised the threat of a referendum if the two countries do not manage to solve the border dispute they have been locked in since they each broke away from the former Yugoslavia in 1991. Ljubljana accuses Zagreb of claiming an illegitimate share of the Adriatic Sea close to the Slovenian city of Piran.