Special report by Camille-Cerise Gessant
INTRODUCTION
Following on from Italy and ahead of Luxembourg (the other members of the trio), it was Latvia's turn to take up the presidency of the EU Council of Ministers on 1 January 2015. For its very first presidency, which it has been preparing since 2012, this small Baltic State with a population of 2.2 million has three priorities: a competitive Europe, a digital Europe and an engaged Europe at international level. The presidency will also have to work on legislation on the investment plan unveiled by the president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker. At this time of increased tension with Russia, an important energy supplier, Latvia also wants to make progress on energy union. The presidency says advances in these priority areas “could be a good boost for economic growth within the EU”.
A member of the EU since May 2004 and the eurozone since 1 January 2014, Latvia is taking a realistic approach. It aims to make progress on these priorities, but above all, Riga wants to make progress on work in progress rather than making promises that will not be kept, such as fiscal harmonisation, new regulations for tax rulings, or energy union and digital union by 30 June.
Some 200 European events will be held in Latvia in the first half of 2015, including ten meetings of EU ministers, an Eastern Partnership summit in May and an ASEM meeting of education ministers (ASEMME).
INTERVIEW WITH THE LATVIAN FOREIGN MINISTER, EDGARS RINKEVICS
Agence Europe - This will be Latvia's first presidency. How has your country prepared itself? Do you want to use the presidency to remind people that there's more to Europe than just a handful of big countries?
Edgars Rinkevics - I do think that we are prepared. We have spent the last two years learning from the experiences of presidencies, closely working with the European Commission, with our trio of presidencies (Italy and Luxembourg), the secretariat of the Council and the European Parliament. When it comes to civil services too, we are as prepared for the priorities as we can be. For small and medium member states, the presidency definitely is a great challenge but also a great opportunity. If you don't have a large bureaucracy, if you don't have many people working in Brussels, and you have an experience of membership of ten years, it is quite a challenging environment. Not to mention the environment within the EU and outside the EU. But it's also a great opportunity to foster an agenda we consider as relevant not only for Latvia but also for the EU, to showcase Latvia both within and outside the EU and of course, it is a great experience, one that actually stays in the country that had held the EU presidency.
Latvia has three priorities. What are they?
Our three priorities are competitive Europe, digital Europe and engaged Europe. There is a quite ambitious agenda but I do believe that if we can move on the issues of strategic investment, energy union and digital agenda, it is going to be of benefit for the entire EU and could be a good boost for economic growth within the EU.
What is competitive Europe?
The aim of competitive Europe is to tackle investment and growth. The Latvian presidency is going to work on the European Commission's proposal on strategic investment funds, the so-called €315 billion plan. The next half-year period is critical for discussing, and agreeing on, planning with the Council and working in close relationship with the European Parliament. We see that strategic areas in the plan are of key interest not only for the EU overall, but also for us as member states. Energy, transport, research and development, and telecommunications are the areas we would be happy to concentrate on. Technically, I would say the work of getting the plan endorsed by all the institutions. What is going to be finalised during our presidency, it's very difficult to say right now.
Energy union is also important for your presidency. What are your priorities?
The creation and development of energy union is of key importance under the current geopolitical and geostrategic circumstances for both EU at large and for my own country. We would be happy to see energy union getting quite a boost and I do hope that the March European Council will have a serious discussion and some decisions. We see two distinct issues.
One is infrastructure. If we really want to get alternative supplies we need to address the issue of infrastructure throughout the EU (…). We need to get a robust EU-wide plan of building necessary infrastructure, developing necessary capacity.
The second issue is that we would see also European energy union as one where the European Commission (…) takes more responsibility. This is something that is still under quite some discussion but if we get a more unified approach also when it comes to setting energy policy, (…) so how to put energy diplomacy to work with any country outside of the EU that provides us with these necessary resources, that would be quite a good step forward. We as a small country sometimes really see that this unified approach is actually of benefit to all. I believe under the current circumstances it could be also very powerful to have instruments to address some of the deficiencies we have seen for the EU for a long time now.
The digital agenda is another Latvian priority…
We are quite advanced in using IT technologies with public administration and businesses but we see when it comes to the overall EU that there are still many barriers. W still don't have a unified EU approach. I am not saying we are going to solve all these issues but to initiate, to have a proposal from the Commission and to work on a solid legislative package and on a solid package of implementation, that's something the pesidency could start (…). We have to talk about many issues, starting not only with technical issues, access to the internet, removing of certain barriers, but also data protection and cyber security.
Do you hope to get an agreement on data protection and if so, when, and do you think you will reach a political agreement in the Council on the digital single market (“Connected Continent”)?
It's not realistic to have everything solved by June 30. We have the ambition to put the proposal on the development of a digital single market on a kind of roadmap of how we are moving to decrease or to remove certain barriers to more European regulation. We do have some discussion about whether we can put this on the table of the European Council within our presidency framework or not, but what we will do right now is to do everything we can to advance this digital agenda through the EU institutions as much as we can (…). We all know that there are going to be some very difficult issues to tackle and some legislative proposals to be worked out may take some time. But we want to push as much as we can and that the next presidency is also equally interested in continuing.
What is “engaged Europe”, your third priority?
We have to address both the eastern and the southern neighbourhoods. When it comes to the southern, we have to address many challenges, starting with migration, including the situation in Syria, Iraq, particularly ISIL. We have already at least one national Latvian who is part of the ISIL group so we think it is an issue which has to be addressed seriously at European level through close cooperation between our home affairs and justice ministers and foreign ministers (…)
There is also the Eastern Partnership (EaP) and obviously the situation in Ukraine. Riga is going to be the next place where an EU EaP summit is going to take place and we think we have to send a very clear and strong signal that the EU is just as engaged in the East as it used to be. So we have to review our overall neighbourhood policy along with the Eastern Partnership part of it. We think we should come up with more differentiation for Eastern partners, particularly supporting those which are on the reform path that want to come closer to the EU.
The year 2015 is a window of opportunity for the transatlantic trade and investment partnership negotiations. I think that we can have some real debate. Probably we can review the mandate and we can move forwards in those negotiations. Second is the climate package. The Paris conference takes place in May 2015 and there is still quite a lot of work to do to get a common European position. The year 2015 is also the European Year of Development. It's also about preparing the post-2015 development agenda for the UN meeting in September.
Why do you also want to highlight Central Asia?
We should not forget that if a country or issue is not in the headlines, it does not mean that it is not an issue any more. We believe that the post-2014 situation in Afghanistan still requires attention. We see that there is potential to develop relations between the EU and Central Asia. We have an EU Central Asia strategy adopted in 2007, it's time to review it to see what has been accomplished and to see what could we do differently. We have set three priorities. The first is security, it's not only about Afghanistan but also about internal issues within the region. The second is education because we believe that the true modernisation of a country can come only through long-term engagement in the education sector. And the third priority is some strategic areas of cooperation like the economy, transport and energy.
A MORE COMPETITIVE EUROPE SHOULD FACILITATE INVESTMENT
The first of the Latvian presidency's priorities is a more competitive Europe. Like the previous presidencies, Latvia wants to see increased job creation and boost economic growth in Europe. The Latvian ambassador to the EU, Ilze Juhansone, says the “key task” of a competitive Europe is to facilitate investment. The presidency will help implement the Juncker plan (investment of €315 billion) that is due to kick off in June 2015 and for which all the legislation needs to be in place beforehand. The presidency has pledged to speed the legislation through at Council level, but it will also need to be approved by the European Parliament. In early December, Latvian Prime Minister Laimdota Straujuma said that all the legislation in question would be prepared during the Latvian presidency because everyone in Europe is waiting for the Juncker plan investment.
For Latvia, it is important to start introducing cohesion policy instruments as well, which it describes as the “main conductors for investment and boosting economic, social and territorial cohesion in Europe”.
Implementation of economic and monetary union and economic governance is also on the presidency's agenda. Viewing macroeconomic stability as a precondition for attracting investment and achieving growth, Latvia wants to focus on the implementation of structural reforms and healthy budget policies.
The presidency will be keeping an eye on implementation of the simplified European semester based on the objectives set for the renewed EUROPE 2020 strategy. Riga wants to ensure higher quality discussions at the Council in which all member states participate. Latvia will encourage other stakeholders and national parliaments to get involved in discussions on the country-specific recommendations.
The presidency plans to pursue work to reduce red tape and extend the single market, in order to boost entrepreneurship and allow genuine benefits to be gained from the investment effect. The presidency will work on the functioning of the single market and make progress on the remaining proposals from the Single Market Act II in order to guarantee four freedoms - the free circulation of individuals, goods, capital and services. “We will work to reduce obstacles, including administrative obstacles, by promoting better regulation and competitiveness-proofing to a greater extent,” explained the presidency in a presentation of its priorities.
In order to boost the competitiveness of EU industry and related service sectors, the presidency wants to facilitate discussions on the roadmap for implementation of the industrial renaissance, one of the priorities of the previous presidency (the Italian presidency).
Latvia is an energy island and wants progress to be made on creating and developing a genuine energy union, stating that “this is the right time for energy union to become a reality.” “We need an energy policy in the EU that is based on solidarity, confidence and security,” explains the Latvian priority document. It adds that the EU needs a more integrated energy infrastructure network and better governance, “particularly where regional governance has not been fully exploited throughout Europe”. The presidency has a two-pronged approach here - infrastructure, to ensure energy islands are no longer isolated, and energy union in which the European Commission would have greater responsibility in relations with energy suppliers from outside the EU in order to have a more unified European approach.
As requested by the European Parliament, the Latvian presidency will organise talks on tax rulings and fiscal harmonisation, but refuses to make any promises aware that there are still differing views on these issues among the member states.
Developing a genuine digital market
Latvia is the sixth country in the global league table of fast internet speeds, and it wants to extend digital Europe and the digital single market, although a number of barriers (technological, legal and language) remain at European level. The presidency says the EU must seize the opportunities provided by information technology and communication in order to create new areas of growth and new jobs. “Since 2010, the European Council has repeatedly said that digital Europe was important. There is impetus now, for example, with the vice-president of the European Commission for the digital single market, and we believe the time is right to make progress on the European digital market”, explained ambassador Ilze Juhansone. Aware of the issues involved, Latvia is planning to make as much progress as possible on the digital single market, an issue that would then by taken up by the Luxembourg presidency.
Latvia wants to work on the building of a stronger and more coherent data protection framework and the presidency will make online security a priority. The presidency will focus on seeking agreement on the EU data protection regulation and directive, implementation of the EU's cybersecurity strategy and finalising the negotiations on the network and information security directive.
The presidency will try to move towards consensus on work post-2015 by facilitating discussions on the digital single market strategy.
Pointing out that the digital single market is not possible without infrastructure, Juhansone said that the telecoms package was “a very important element”. The telecoms market and seeking a compromise, a balanced solution, on roaming and network neutrality are therefore also on the presidency's agenda. Its guiding aim will be to strike a balance in order to have high-quality services at a reasonable cost for EU citizens. Riga is focusing on discussions about digital skills and the next stages in the promotion and digitisation of the public sector, in both area of which Latvia is already highly advanced. The presidency will be promoting the multi-stakeholder model and trying to get the EU to speak with a single voice. It will be organising a digital conference in June with the participation of all digital stakeholders. The question may also be discussed at a European summit.
A EUROPE THAT IS MORE ENGAGED IN THE INTERNATIONAL ARENA
Latvia wants Europe and the member states to be more engaged in the world and to help the EU high representative in her work, against the backdrop of an ever more complex situation on Europe's doorstep, be it in the Mediterranean or in the East. The European neighbourhood policy will be revised under the Latvian presidency.
It is not because Latvia is located in the east that the focus will be on the Eastern neighbourhood for Latvia wants to do away with the stereotype of countries in the east being interested in the Eastern neighbourhood and countries in the south by the Southern neighbourhood. It will be working on both the Southern and Eastern neighbourhoods at the same time.
In the east, Latvia will have to deal with the Ukrainian crisis. One of the highlights of the presidency will be the Eastern Partnership summit on 21 and 22 May. The last Eastern Partnership summit, under the Lithuanian presidency, was a disaster because the Ukrainian president back then, Viktor Yanukovych, refused to sign the EU-Ukraine association agreement. At the summit in May, Latvia wants to send a strong signal that the neighbourhood policy is still a political priority for the EU. The summit should also provide an opportunity for making progress on the liberalisation of visas for some Eastern Partnership countries. “The summit should provide a roadmap on the future of the European neighbourhood policy”, explained Andrejs Pildegovics, the minister of state at the Latvian foreign ministry. The presidency also wants progress to be made in the EU's relations with Belarus, one of its neighbours. “We don't want to have a Cuba on our doorstep”, explained Pildegovics. “I hope that we will be able to make some progress since Belarus is increasingly interested in a thawing of relations”, he added, pointing out that the most important thing was for the country to make progress on human rights.
To the south, Latvia will focus on the situation in Libya, the Middle East peace process, Syria, Iraq and the threat from ISIL and its foreign fighters. The question of migration, which was so important for the previous Italian presidency, will remain a priority.
“It is time to focus more on a forgotten region - Central Asia”, added the Latvian ambassador, a region that Pildegovics describes as “neglected”. The presidency wants to revise the EU's strategy for Central Asia, which dates back to 2007, and would like more detailed talks on strategic domains such as security, the economy, border management, energy supplies, education, human rights and transport.
The Latvian presidency also wants to foster talks with the United States over TTIP, which the ambassador said was “not just a trade deal, but also a geopolitical agreement”. The Latvian foreign minister, Edgars Rinkevics, thinks it will be possible to have a genuine debate. “We'll probably be able to review the mandate and move forward in the negotiations”, he added. In a similar vein, the presidency is “delighted” with the signing of a trade and business deal between the EU and Canada and the advances made in the talks with Japan. The presidency also hopes to build on relations with other strategic partners.
Latvia has a large Russian minority and will also need to deal with the “strategic Russian problem”. The foreign minister travelled to Russia on 11 and 12 January. Rinkevics says that “while a large part of the future of relations with Russia depends on how the situation in Ukraine develops”, the EU should have a strategy for how to work with Russia. There could also be new forms of open dialogue. The minister reveals that several member states will suggest the launch of an EU-Russia dialogue, which is only possible if there is an improvement in the situation in Ukraine.
This year, 2015, is European Year for Development, when the focus will be on the negotiations for the post-2015 framework and the United Nations summit in September 2015, along with the new sustainable development goals. Gender equality and the autonomy of women will be promoted too. The climate package, along with the Paris conference in May 2015, will be another priority. The presidency will need to work on a common European position which again, will involve a lot of work.
Like all other presidencies, Latvia will try to make progress in the accession negotiations “firstly with the Western Balkans”. Rinkevics thinks it will be possible to open new negotiating chapters with Montenegro. He says that if Serbia resumes dialogue with Kosovo and “things go in the right direction”, then Belgrade may be able to open its first negotiating chapters during the Latvian presidency. The presidency also wants candidate countries to align their foreign policy with that of the EU. Serbia has not introduced Europe's sanctions against Russia. Rinkevics hopes to see progress in the accession talks with Turkey, but is cautious about the opening of any new negotiating chapters, although the commissioner for enlargement negotiations, Johannes Hahn, says he hopes a chapter will be opened under the Latvian presidency.
CALENDAR
January
12-15- European Parliament plenary (Strasbourg)
19- General Affairs Council (Brussels)
26- Agriculture-Fisheries Council (Brussels)
26- Eurogroup (Brussels)
27- ECOFIN (Brussels)
28- European Parliament plenary (Brussels)
29-30- Justice-Foreign Affairs Council (Riga)
February
9-12- European Parliament plenary (Strasbourg)
9- Foreign Affairs Council (Brussels)
10- General Affairs Council (Brussels)
12-13- Informal meeting of EU heads of state
16- Eurogroup (Brussels)
17- ECOFIN (Brussels)
18-19- Defence Summit (Latvia)
25- European Parliament plenary (Brussels)
March
2-3- Competitiveness Council (Brussels)
5- Transport Council (Brussels)
6- Environment Council (Brussels)
6-7- Gymnich-style Foreign Affairs Council (Latvia)
9- EPSCO (Brussels)
9- Eurogroup (Brussels)
9-12- European Parliament plenary (Strasbourg)
10- ECOFIN (Brussels)
12-13- Justice and Home Affairs Council (Brussels)
13- Transport Council (Brussels)
16- Foreign Affairs Council (Brussels)
16- Agriculture-Fisheries Council (Brussels)
17- General Affairs Council (Brussels)
19-20- European Summit (Brussels)
25- European Parliament plenary (Brussels)
26-27- Competitiveness Council (Latvia)
April
14-15- Environment Council (Latvia)
15- European Parliament plenary (Brussels)
15-16- Energy Council (Latvia)
20- Foreign Affairs Council (Luxembourg)
20- Agriculture-Fisheries Council (Luxembourg)
20-22- EPSCO (Latvia)
24-25- ECOFIN (Latvia)
27-30- European Parliament plenary (Strasbourg)
May
7- Foreign Affairs Council (Trade) (Brussels)
8- Foreign Affairs Council (Defence) (Brussels)
11- Agriculture-Fisheries Council (to be confirmed) (Brussels)
11- Eurogroup (Brussels)
12- ECOFIN (Brussels)
18- Foreign Affairs Council (Brussels)
18- Education and Youth Council (Brussels)
18-21- European Parliament plenary (Strasbourg)
19- General Affairs Council (Brussels)
19- Culture and Sport Council (Brussels)
21-22- Oriental Partnership Summit (Riga)
26- Foreign Affairs Council (Development) (Brussels)
27- European Parliament plenary (Brussels)
28-29- Competitiveness Council (Brussels)
31- Agriculture-Fisheries Council (Latvia)
June
1-2- Agriculture-Fisheries Council (Latvia)
8- Energy Council (Luxembourg)
8-11- European Parliament plenary (Strasbourg)
10-11- EU-CELAC Council
11- Transport Council (Luxembourg)
11- Telecoms Council (Luxembourg)
15- Environment Council (Luxembourg)
15-16- Justice and Home Affairs Council (Luxembourg)
16- Agriculture-Fisheries Council (Luxembourg)
18- Employment Council (Luxembourg)
18- Eurogroup (Luxembourg)
19- ECOFIN (Luxembourg)
19- Healthcare Council (tbc) (Luxembourg)
22- Foreign Affairs Council (Luxembourg)
23- General Affairs Council (Luxembourg)
24- European Parliament plenary (Brussels)
25-26- European Summit (Brussels)