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PRESENT AND FUTURE OF EUROPE: LITHUANIA’S VIEW

Ladies and Gentlemen,

A while back we did an unusual survey. Respondents were asked how they would describe the European Union if it were a person. Four out of five described it as an honest, reliable, just and clever individual. In addition, it is conceived as a big and decent friend.

The positive image is largely due to the popular understanding that Lithuania has always been in Europe in spite of its turbulent history. European integration has been a major inspiration for our independence and progress.

The next immediate goal is clear and very realistic: membership in the European Union in 2004. This prospect gives rise to a feeling of sharing the rights in and responsibility for a common home and its future.

It remains to be decided whether this home is to be renovated or remodelled. The Convention is a good method for such projecting. It brings together the best minds in Europe, it has strong leadership, it includes future members and it is well underway. In the final analysis, it is imperative that new members fully participate in the Intergovernmental Conference of 2004.

Here, ladies and gentlemen, is the general line of Lithuania on the future of Europe.

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In Lithuania, as like in other acceding countries, the domestic discussion focuses more on the future in Europe rather than on the future of Europe. This is so because the future of the EU and the enlargement are interlinked. Moreover, enlargement is the most immediate question of the Union’s future for the candidate countries. Without the success of enlargement there is no successful future of the Union.

Looking beyond enlargement, it is obvious that the European countries have different constitutional organisation and individual traditions of statehood; to add more, differing national interests. Nevertheless, all want the Union to be strong, secure and prosperous.

This can be achieved through further evolution of the missions for Europe prescribed by the founders of the Communities: stability and security of the continent and the welfare of its citizens. These missions are all alive.

Also alive is the Community method which has made the EU what it is today. I believe that this method must be preserved and, where possible, extended. It rests on strong institutions that balance national interests and guarantee fair play for all members regardless of their size.

It would be wrong to revert Community policies back to intergovernmentalism. We should rather seek ways to make these two methods compatible. Different operating modes for the EU must be considered, depending on the functional needs and objectives of the Union. The Convention should also focus on sharing powers and responsibilities rather than giving them back. I am, therefore, one of the strongest supporters of the ideas put forth by the Commission in its recent communication on the future of Europe.

The primary source of the Convention’s deliberations is the expectations of European citizens. Although there are a great variety of views on what the citizens want, I believe that their common wish is to see the European Union prosperous, secure and influential. I shall elaborate on these three qualities.

First, a prosperous Union.

The achievements of the EU are impressive. Common EU areas and policies such as the single market or single currency have proven their value by generating an ever greater wealth. Economic integration into new areas and deeper into existing fields should continue to be the way forward.

Evolution and expansion of the internal market are only possible in combination with another central principle of the Union – solidarity – which should fully apply in an enlarged Union. Our reasoning here is one of analogy. The cohesion and structural policies that accelerated the growth of Ireland, Spain, Portugal and Greece must be repeated eastwards on a larger scale. It is a sound investment project which increases the competitiveness of the EU as a whole. Requiring but a tiny fraction of the European Union’s GDP, solidarity policies promise a big reward in the future.

There are more reasons why prosperity in the Union is inseparable from solidarity. Among them is cohesion. It will gain importance in an enlarged and more diverse Union. The semantic meaning of the word “union” means “one”, or one for all of us. We should avoid creating an enlarged Union with two sets of standards, two types of policies or two budgets.

The whole credibility of European integration will rest on the degree in which its successes are repeated in the expanded Union. We clearly have a common interest that this Union should be comfortable to all its members, hospitable and, above all, human.

Second, a secure Union.

The citizens of the European Union, the achievements of European integration and its values need a single European area of freedom, security and justice where they can feel safe and secure from a variety of threats. The so-called new threats are hard to cope with for any one country individually. Efforts exercised through a common institutional framework are more efficient.

Policies of the third pillar have particular bearing for my country due to Lithuania’s geography. Two of the present frontiers of Lithuania eventually will become the external frontiers of the Union. Vilnius – the capital of Lithuania – is only thirty kilometres from the future Eastern border of the European Union. Therefore, we feel a double responsibility – for ourselves and for Europe. It would be natural that this responsibility be shouldered by all of the beneficiaries. We hope the initiative of the Commission on common border management will be analysed and supported by the European ministers of Justice and the Interior when they meet in a few days.

Because of its importance and in the context of growing European unity, the third pillar should merge with the other pillars. National sensitivities should be addressed by more rather than less co-operation, using open co-ordination as well as the Community approach.

Third, an influential Union.

The EU should seek to develop a strong global identity, while the second pillar should gradually evolve from intergovernmental co-operation into a complex of Community policies.

The EU must have a stronger political influence globally. Speaking with one voice is not enough. Instead of being seen as a group of countries whose individual interests are advocated under the Union’s banner it must be regarded as a genuine Union, which promotes its common values and defends its interests. It should be in every member state’s interest that the European Union is respected in other countries, that we should feel proud when saying that we are its members.

This can be achieved by acting through EU institutions which underlie the Community interests and are the main engine of European integration. The EU needs strong institutions that can manage the enlarged Union’s objectives and ability to act. The strength and respect for the Union’s trade policies managed by the Commission are an example to follow in the projection of the Union’s external action.

The international role of the Union also calls for new avenues towards common policies on what Commissioner Chris Patten calls “proximity”. Europe’s first priority should be a secure, stable, prosperous and friendly neighbourhood. The neighbourhood policy must be more open and more sensitive. It is very good that the EU is involved in the Baltic Sea co-operation and that it has its Northern Dimension. The incredible economic potential that exists on the eastern rim of the European Union warrants that absolute priority be given to the Union’s policies towards its future neighbours in Eastern Europe: Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova. The concept of a wider Europe must grow into a comprehensive policy backed by firm political will and adequate resources.

I can assure you that after accession Lithuania will devote its efforts towards these goals.  We are not going to be a liability to other members, because we shall bring into the Union good relations with, knowledge and expertise of our neighbourhood.

The best testimony to this is Kaliningrad. I am convinced that Lithuanian policies of openness and dialogue have worked there. By declaring in the Moscow Summit that Kaliningrad will be a test case for relations between the European Union and Russia, President Putin has put a powerful argument into the Union’s hands simply because the chief responsibility for the future of Kaliningrad lies in Moscow’s hands. A combination of patience and openness should guide the Union in this test, which must eventually become a success.

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In conclusion, ladies and gentlemen, I want to stress once again that I believe in European integration, in the European Union, and in its success after enlargement. It will take political will, faith and especially imagination to adapt Europe to new changes. Nothing is as valuable as the input of independent and creative thought. The European Policy Centre has been a major source of this thought. I desire that its staff carry on with its work, which has an impact bigger than meets the eye. I also thank the Centre for this opportunity to speak to this receptive audience. I will now be glad to take questions, which may also be about accession negotiations.