Luxemburg am Ruder: Erfahrungen, Entschlossenheit und Selbstverleugnung

Die „natürliche“ Rolle Luxemburgs als Vermittler zwischen den
mächtigsten EU-Mitgliedstaaten versetzt das Land in eine perfekte
Ausgangsposition für den EU-Ratsvorsitz. Dies hat es bereits
mehrere Male unter Beweis gestellt und auch in der ersten
Hälfte von 2005 dürfte dies wieder der Fall sein. Diese Auffassung
vertritt Mario Hirish in
seiner von Notre Europe veröffentlichten
Studie. 

Abstract:

The Presidency of the Union has been one of the most frequently
debated questions throughout the two years taken to prepare the
European Constitution, alongside the composition of the Commission
and the weighting of votes within the Council of Ministers. Part of
the received thinking current at the time was that the rotating
presidency was becoming impracticable, since the small countries do
not have the resources needed to cope with the obligations
incumbent upon a President in office. As a demonstration that there
might be something wrong with this analysis, no better example
could possibly be imagined than Luxembourg’s Presidency at the
beginning of 2005.

The list of topics to be addressed is indeed impressive: the
start of negotiations on future finances, a debate on reform of the
stability pact and examination of the Lisbon strategy at the Spring
European Council , not to mention a most uncertain international
situation, especially in the Middle East. There is even less chance
of avoiding these questions since the Finance Ministers have just
given Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker the formidable
responsibility of chairing the Eurogroup. In other words, the task
in hand is a considerable one, and yet the arrival of the
Luxembourg team at the helm is being viewed hopefully in European
circles. It is even being considered that this Presidency
represents a “window of opportunity” as regards the budget in so
far as it might put forward a dossier in which both its
predecessors and its successors, for differing reasons, are too
heavily involved to be able to play a mediating role.

The study by Mario Hirsch provides keys to the understanding of
this apparent paradox. Napoleon said that “A country’s foreign
policy is dictated by its geography”. A small country with powerful
neighbours, Luxembourg has learnt to its cost that the balance of
power can have devastating effects. Its economic success is
inseparable from its openness to the world. Having joined in the
European adventure from the very outset, it benefits from an
intimate knowledge of the Community machinery’s internal workings.
This has enabled earlier incumbencies to leave their mark on the
recent history of Europe: it was a Luxembourg Presidency that saw
the adoption of the Single European Act, the linchpin in the
resurgence of the 1980s, and start of the intergovernmental
conference that was later to be concluded in Maastricht.

This vast experience calls to mind advice that the big countries
sometimes tend to forget: an effective Presidency is one that is
capable of setting aside its own immediate interests in favour of
the common interest. If this criterion is to be used to define
great European countries, there is nothing small about Luxembourg.
This explains the trust placed in it in European circles and the
hope riding on it.

The author, Mario Hirsh, is the editor of
the Luxembourg weekly Lëtzebuerger Land.

Click here
to read the full text.