Presentation of PISM publication: THE FUTURE OF STRATEGIC EUROPE

The opening remarks were made by Roman Kuźniar (Policy Advisor to the President of the Republic of Poland on International Affairs), Wawrzyniec Smoczyński (journalist of Polityka) and Katarzyna Pisarska (Director of the European Academy of Diplomacy). The event was moderated by Marcin Zaborowski (Director of the Polish Institute of International Affairs).

PISM’s fresh publication, a book by Nicole Gnesotto, triggered a discussion on the role that strategic thinking and planning plays in the process of European integration. The lack of long-term strategic planning with reference to various European policies, as well as to the institutional development of the organization were identified as the major challenges for the policy makers and officials at the national and European levels. The ongoing financial crisis has now become a wider crisis of the EU’s identity and has revealed shortcomings in the partial economic integration. The analysis of the current institutional landscape of the foreign and security policy of the EU, along with the emerging nationalistic tendencies of member- states have become the main obstacles in furthering integration in these areas.

In the subsequent part of the seminar possible scenarios for the future of the EU with reference to dealing with the economic crisis were discussed. The increasing nationalistic tendencies of member-states and a lack of political will are undermining efforts towards further integration, which is seen as the most effective manner of solving current problems. An interesting part of the debate focused on the question whether the recent ineffectiveness of the EU has been caused by the insufficiency or rather by an overabundance of democracy in the decision making process.

During the Q&A session the discussion focused on the role that Central and Eastern Europe, and in particular Poland, should play in fostering further integration of the Common Foreign and Security Policy. The issue of developing a common European military capacity is becoming increasingly more pressing with the changing agenda of the U.S., which is losing interest in the European continent. It was concluded that a common European policy should be based on close cooperation with NATO. Lastly, it was pointed out that the EU’s unwillingness to play a more important role on the global stage is caused, on the one hand, by the lack of ambitions and support on the side of individual states, and on the other hand by an increasing resistance of member-states to redistribute national resources on European levels.

By Magdalena Nasieniak