Warsaw - Politically equal, financially composite, energetically united and globally assertive. This is the European Union according to the proposals of the Vysegrád Four Group, an association of EU member states of Central Eastern Europe, also known as V4, composed by Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia. According to the document, the Joint Statement of the Heads of Governments of the V4 Countries “Strong Europe – Union of Action and Trust”¹, the four member states of the European Union have agreed to present on the occasion of the Anniversary of the signature of the Treaty of Rome, the European Energy Union is considered one of the priorities the President of the European Commission Jean Claude Juncker should realize to strengthen the European Project and relaunch it after Brexit. The Energy Union is a project conceived by the President of the European Council Donald Tusk along with French President François Hollande, aimed at creating a common EU market of energy and diversifying the supplies of energy fuels, making the European Union less dependent on either the Russian gas and the Saudi oil in so doing. “Europe should confront Russia's monopolistic position with a single European body charged with buying its gas,” stated Mr. Tusk almost three years ago².

Some steps aimed at creating the Energy Union have already been taken, e. g. the realization of gas terminals in Świnoujście, Poland and Klaipeda, Lithuania to import LNG from Qatar and Norway, and, potentially, liquefied shale gas from the United States of America. The North-South Corridor, a pipeline aimed at connecting the terminal of Świnoujście with the terminal of Krk, Croatia, and granted the status of the Project of Common Interest by the European Commission In October 2013³, is one more infrastructure, tied to the Energy Union, conceived to increase the diversification of gas supplies for the European energy market. However, further steps to strengthen the European Energy Union are systematically opposed by a group of member states, such as Germany, Italy, Slovenia, Greece, Bulgaria and Cyprus -and also Albania, a candidate-state for EU membership- that maintain direct ties with Russian national energy major Gazprom or the Turkish government. European Commission President Juncker also showed a tepid approach towards the Energy Union as he did not take concrete initiatives to encourage the realization of the infrastructures required to diversify energy supplies for the European Union and maintained a formally neutral position regarding the realization of Nordstream II, which endangered real diversification envisioned by the Energy Union spirit.

Given the difficulty to create the European Energy Union, the V4 Group, in its document, also proposes a political solution aimed at guaranteeing equal treatment for all the member states of the European Union. According to the document, the V4 countries propose to treat the EU member states equally, "regardless of the currency and political orientation of each member state". The V4 Group also believes a financial autonomy within the European Union is necessary to relaunch the European Union facing the globalization and modern challenges, such as the economic crisis and the wave of protectionism that is spreading worldwide, in particular after the victory of Donald Trump in the US Presidential election. “Changes in the euro zone cannot lead to permanent cracks in the European Union,” stressed Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydło after the signing of the V4 Joint Statement⁴.

The need to treat the EU member states equally is tied to the aim by Germany and France to promote a "Multiple gear Europe" in which the countries that pertain to the Eurozone de facto maintain political and economical control over the European Institutions, whereas the countries outside of the Eurozone, such as Poland, Denmark, Sweden, Czech Republic, Hungary, Rumania, Bulgaria and Croatia, are considered "member states of Second League". In order to oppose this tendency, which is also backed by Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, Polish President Andrzej Duda and Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović launched in August 2016 an informal group of EU member states of Central Eastern Europe aimed at defending, within the European Institutions, the political position of Poland, Croatia, Czech Republic and Hungary⁵. To this political group, that has been named "the new Intermarium" or “Three Seas Initiative”, also belong member states of Central Eastern Europe that pertain to the Eurozone, such as Slovakia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Slovenia.

Another request the V4 countries are to address President Juncker with on the occasion of the anniversary of the Treaty of Rome is an assertive commitment to global affairs. According to the V4 Group, the main area of interest of EU foreign policy must be the Western Balkans and the "Eastern neighbours" of the European Union. With respect to Western Balkans, the document means -without naming them- Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Macedonia, i. e. states of former Yugoslavia whose European aspirations have been too long ignored, and even opposed, by Western Europe. In fact, Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands and other states of Western Europe openly supported the independence of Kosovo: a move of the USA with active participation of Turkey and Saudi Arabia inspired to weaken Serbia and strengthen their influence in Europe.

With respect to the "Eastern neighbours", the V4 countries mean -without naming them- Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Belarus. While among the EU member states there is still a unanimous agreement regarding the need to support the territorial inviolability of Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova -which currently have parts of their territory occupied by Russian soldiers- there is no agreement regarding how to proceed with Azerbaijan, a non-democratic country which is considered a potential supplier of natural gas for the European Union alternative to Russia. That is why, in November 2016, the EU initiated negotiations on a new comprehensive agreement with Azerbaijan⁶.

Another Europe, less German and Franco-centric, is possible

Even though the countries of Central Eastern Europe are considered the "black sheep" of the European Union due to their opposition to the migration policy of German Chancellor Angela Merkel -who urged Central Eastern Europe to welcome refugees from the Middle East that she welcomed to Germany- the document that the V4 Group will be presenting is strongly based on a pro-European vision that, however, differs from the "federal" approach that Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg do support. The V4 Group insists on “protecting our people’s lives” through “the cooperation in internal security” and “the external dimension of migration policy”.

In fact, the main promises, the federal utopia has been proposing, except the introduction of the Euro currency, that de facto divided Europe instead of further integrating it, have never been realized since the Treaty of Rome has been signed 25 years ago. No strong European Institutions, with a pair treatment for all the member states, have been created. The process of enlargement of the European Union has been stopped due to the egoism of Western Europe, France at first. The idea of a common EU army has been interpreted as an opportunity, for France⁷, to realize an alternative to NATO and challenge the United States in so doing.

With respect to energy policies, no serious common strategy has been approved in this regard: Germany and Italy maintain bilateral ties with Gazprom, whereas Turkey was given green light to strengthen its influence in the Balkans and decrease the popularity of the European Dream in the region in so doing.

President Juncker, by his turn, preferred not to face the real threats to the European Union as he should have done. On the contrary, he maintained warm ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin, their meeting in St Petersburg on June 16, 2016 confirmed that⁸, and forged an alliance with Turkish President Tajip Erdogan aimed at trying to slow down the stream of migrants from the Middle East. “I would like Europe to refrain from giving lessons to Turkey on that (migration) matter”, said President Juncker in his interview with Euronews⁹.

The proposals of the V4 Group should be read, and understood, as an invite to create a new, better Europe, in which the EU citizens might have the perception not to be too distant from German-led European Institutions and a French-led European foreign policy.

Therefore, it is necessary the Euro currency will be followed, and supported, by the realization of projects of real integration, such as the Energy Union and a serious commitment of the European Union on foreign policy issues. Only in such a way, the European Union might become really prosperous, competitive and secure in the global arena.

Matteo Cazzulani

Strategy XXI

@MatteoCazzulani