With three new governments in place – in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia – Central Europe finds itself in a unique political dynamics. Hungary and Poland are getting ready to assume their subsequent EU presidencies in the upcoming year and Slovakia has taken over the annual presidency of the “Visegrad Four” Group earlier this summer. At the same time, the combined share of the Visegrad Group in the post-Lisbon Treaty European Council equalized the votes of “European integration engine” Germany and France together. All these facts unveil an entirely new political situation in Central Europe that allows the Visegrad Group to shape the European policies and strategic European and Transatlantic debate at the best possible time. GLOBSEC 2010 will be the first public event and meeting of leading political representatives of V4 after significant changes on the Central European “political map”. The name of the Panel “Visegrad Four: Energized” indicates not only the main topic of the special ministerial panel, but also a new momentum within the Visegrad cooperation. New emphasis on the regional cooperation may significantly manifest itself in the most important politics of the European Union, namely in the upcoming period of negotiations on the financial perspective of the EU and the next EU budget; in shaping the EU’s Eastern Partnership program; by attempts in revitalizing the EU enlargement in the Western Balkans; and in the strategic discussion on the EU common energy policy.
The energy security and the vulnerability to energy supply cut-offs is the common Achilles tendon of all the Visegrad countries. So far, despite improvements since 2009 gas crisis, results of decisive or joint actions on the European or regional level have been rare. Necessity of the regional interconnection of the energy routes, higher diversity of energy supplies as well as true common EU energy policy will therefore present the core of the panel discussion. By consulting as well as acting together whenever possible, the Visegrad countries can have a larger impact on future EU energy policies and hence limit overall uncertainties. In particular, creating a functioning single EU electricity market and natural gas market should be in the interest of all V4 countries. After the changes in political representation in three of the four Visegrad countries a new dynamics is likely to be seen.
Guiding Questions:
- How could the Visegrad group platform be utilized during the upcoming EU presidencies of Hungary and Poland in 2011 to push through ideas of true single energy markets on regional and European level?
- In what ways may Budapest and Warsaw capitalize their EU presidencies in order to bring common Visegrad issues to the fore of EU policies?
- Can V4 provide an example of transformation of wider European cooperation – from declarations to action?
- Can cooperation on regional level substitute wider European policies or at least speed-up lacking harmonisation of both sides of energy markets?
- Why are consultations and real cooperation among V4 countries so vital to all of them? Can we find a common ground for real projects and turn political declarations to reality? Are individual priorities of Visegrad countries compatible enough to lead way for wider European policies?
GLOBSEC Paper Series
