Every year, Schuman Foundation offers an online course for people from all over Poland – the European Academy. This year, classes focus on EU relations with another countries and regions of the world.
On 12 March, the EU-US relations went on fire, and our guides were Tomasz Bielecki, correspondent for Insight Policy in Brussels, and prof. Bohdan Szklarski of the Center for American Studies at the University of Warsaw. More than 220 people attended the meeting.
For example, we learned that:
- if there are no people who know Europe better around Donald Trump, this (as Prof. Szklarski points out) is only a manifestation of his general anti-expert approach, which in turn will increase lobbyists' influence in the White House;
- The US supported the emerging European integration, but George Washington already said that the US should take care of its interests, noted the professor;
- the lecturer explained that during Donald Trump's erstwhile word of office, despite the unfavorable communicative towards the Union, intensive EU-US contacts were maintained at working levels; the question was whether this would be the case now that Trump dismantles the American authoritative apparatus;
- Brussels had prepared scenarios in case Donald Trump came to power in terms of his competences (trade, customs), but is amazed by the velocity of the fresh administration, said Tomasz Bielecki;
- added that possibly another field of EU-US conflict would be VAT in Europe, which the Americans consider to be a barrier to trade as well as EU digital regulation;
- Both of our guests are amazed by Trump's decline in anti-Chinese rhetoric compared to his run statements. According to Tomasz Bielecki, the EU institutions could anticipate that the US would effort to invitation them to do any common anti-Chinese activities, but no of this has happened yet.
On 26 March, we took the EU enlargement policy to the workshop, and so the relation between the Union and its neighbours. Our experts included Dr. Jarosław Pietras, elder investigation Associate at the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies in Brussels, and a associate of the Programme Council of our Foundation, erstwhile besides active in the Polish accession process, and Marta Szpala, specialist at the Center for east Studies. 170 participants listened to their comments.
They learned, among others, that:
- enlargement of the European Union is not a charitable activity. As Dr. Pietras noted, despite being "tired by enlargement" in any countries, it is in the strategical interest of the EU;
- Marta Szpala said that Poles had already forgotten how strong the possible of enlargement is for the administration of a given country;
- In order for the country to aspire to the EU, it must be a European country. As Dr. Pietras explained, this is not only about Europeanism in a geographical sense, but besides in a cultural, civilizational sense. If Canada applied for membership, it could theoretically be considered a European country;
- During the gathering 2 visions of the current enlargement policy collided. Marta Szpała's bitter imagination – enlargements as a process politicised by associate States – was erstwhile more crucial to the European Commission. It is unknown erstwhile and who the next enlargement will take place, the criteria for advancement in negotiations are unclear and the Union does not respond sufficiently erstwhile a country deviates from the improvement path. Dr. Pietras was somewhat more optimistic, as a individual participating in the Polish negotiations he said that accession negotiations always required the candidate to comply with EU standards, and any fundamental issues were resolved at the level of Heads of State and Government.
- Marta Szpala stated that enlargement has late not been a precedence issue in the EU agenda. The war in Ukraine changes a lot. Not only with respect to Ukraine's membership in the EU itself, but besides with another countries, especially the Western Balkans, which have been waiting for membership for about 20 years (and were then more ready than today). They are inactive not unchangeable countries and are now becoming a soft, delicate underbelly for the EU.
What is the Academy and what are we talking about? Read here.
