Date: 23 & 24 February 2005
 
Programme of the Conference
 
Dinner Address by Jean-Claude Juncker, Prime Minister of Luxembourg and President of the European Council
 
CEPS had the pleasure of hosting Jean-Claude Juncker, Prime Minister of Luxembourg and incumbent president of the European Council, as the keynote speaker at its Annual Conference’s opening dinner.
 
At the outset of his speech, Jean-Claude Juncker recalled the three priorities of his country’s presidency: the midterm review of the Lisbon process, an examination of the Stability and Growth Pact and securing an agreement on the Financial Perspectives for the period 2007-2013. Although these are distinct points on the agenda, he emphasised the strong interlinkages existing between them.
 
He conceded that the promise formulated in Lisbon and Gothenborg, to make the EU the world’s most competitive knowledge-based economy, while giving an equally prominent role to social cohesion and environmental protection, was not a modest one. Against the background of slow progress and critical assessments by many observers, he stressed the importance and timeliness of a review of the Lisbon process, and a re-prioritisation of its objectives. He said, however, that from his perspective the achievement of the Lisbon strategy so far were mitigated. Juncker further deplored that Europeans seem to dislike facing up their achievements and have a sceptical attitude towards implementing novelties in general. Indeed, at the time of the signing of the Maastricht treaty, only few had believed in the launch of a single currency. Nevertheless the euro turned out to be a “blessing” for Europe by eliminating the need of exchange rate re-adjustments among European countries, especially in the light of global financial or political crises.
 
He observed that the public opinion had little awareness of the Lisbon Agenda’s existence or its raison d’être, namely guaranteeing the sustainability of the European Social Model for future generations through the implementation of necessary reforms at present. This social model could only be upheld by its three pillars – competitiveness, social cohesion and environment. Due to its current weakness, he shared the Commission’s resolve to put the emphasis on competitiveness and economic growth. Should the EU indeed grow at its current potential rate of 1.7% over the next decades, the European Social Model would become unsustainable and be condemned. In that light, competitiveness and growth were simply preconditions for achieving the social objectives.
 
Juncker emphasised the fact that, regardless of their couleur, national governments were fully aware of the challenges they faced and even knew how to tackle them. In practice however, most of these challenges were left untouched. He suggested two explanations for this reform-inertia. Firstly, he discerned a general reform-aversion and little concern about the long-term by Europeans. In such a setting, governments would considerably jeopardise their chances of being re-elected by announcing or applying reforms. Indeed, he went as far as saying that the key question for politicians is to devise a strategy to win elections after having implemented the reform that we all know are necessary. Secondly he questioned the optimality of the implementation- method of the Lisbon targets and called for a stronger ownership of the Lisbon process by national governments. The Luxembourg’ presidency thus proposes the application of national action programmes designed by governments and controlled by their parliaments.
 
Juncker further stressed, that the Lisbon objectives should be more strongly taken into account when deciding on the next financial framework. In the light of the current debate involving six Member states calling for a cap of the EU budget at 1% of GNI on the one hand and the Commission advocating 1.24% on the other, he suggested to clarify the objectives prior to debating about the level of contibution. Among those objectives, he stressed in particular the importance of increasing the R&D spending, which is low both in comparison to the US and Japan and with regard to the Lisbon objective.
 
He cautioned of reviving the division between net contributors and net beneficiaries, underlining that the EU should be bigger than the sum of the two. The UK rebate should also be questioned, but a rapid agreement was unlikely due to upcoming elections.
 
Regarding the Stability and Growth Pact, he called for rules that were better adapted to business-cycle fluctuations and had a preventive dimension, thus underlining the importance of the stablility element.

First session: General Values

Panelists: Stefan Lunte, Deputy Secretary General, Commission of the Bishop’s Conferences of the European Communities
Tariq Ramadan, Resigning Professor, Notre Dame University
Rabbi David Rosen, Director, Institute for International Interreligious Understanding
 
The First Panel focused on the nature of and need for common European values.  The three speakers stood in support of a European project that transcends nationalisms and promotes diversity. Although the values common to all Europeans- respect of human rights, the rule of law, human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, rights of minorities- are spelled out in the European Constitution, shortcomings in their implementation persist. Rabbi David Rosen underlined that understanding European history was essential for the future of younger European generations, the respect of diversity, human dignity, and hospitality based on the Judeo-Christian heritage, and the search for a proper balance between individual and collective identities.  Stefan Lunte underlined the need for Europe to rethink its value system, and recognized that institutions or constitutions were not sufficient to convey a sense of belonging to a European project or common European values.  He underlined the need for a more positive understanding of the role of religion in the process of incarnation of European ideals.  Tariq Ramadan underlined the dangers in defining European values in opposition to ‘others’, called for the respect of European diversity, and underlined the complementary of faith, rationality, and critical mind.  He described a European identity crisis manifest in more discrimination and less equality, and proposed developing civic education, promoting multi-dimensional European identities, and local, national, and regional partnerships, as common grounds on which to counter all shades of European racisms.
 
Second Session: Economic values
 
Panelists: Anna Diamantopoulou, Member of the Greek Parliament, former Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs
Hermann-Josef Lamberti, Member of the Board of Managing Directors, Deutsche Bank
Stefano Micossi, Director General, Assonime, Professor, College of Europe
 
The second panel focussed on re-invigorating the European economy so as to ensure the preservation of “l’économie solidaire” in the wake of pressures deriving from ageing, globalisation and technological change. Stefano Micossi argued that the prime cause of the lack of dynamism in the European economy is not explained by a lack of technology, capital or know-how. Nor even can it be blamed primarily on big government, taxation or social protection. Rather, it results from the way institutions influence or reflect opposition to change and attitudes towards risk-taking by citizens. The fact that some high-taxation, high welfare provision economies prosper while others languish suggests that the efficiency in public spending and in the administering of social services may be important contributing factors to dynamism. Anna  Diamantopoulou focused on the lack of real change brought about thus far by the Lisbon Agenda, whose ill-defined objectives she characterised as leading to a lack of understanding, of planning and of implementation. One of the main weaknesses of Lisbon is the missing fiscal dimension, since the Agenda has been linked neither to the Stability and Growth Pact nor to the Financial Perspectives. Diamantopoulou argued for introducing qualified majority voting on fiscal issues as a critical step towards delivering on the objectives. At the same time, she urged member states to muster the political will to implement structural reforms, since a dynamic and well-functioning economy nourishes and underpins European values.  Lamberti tackled the question of how to deal with safeguarding individual prosperity in a world where the global nature of economic challenges requires collective solutions. A central feature of his discussion was the short-termism of populist policies driven by the political cycle. Although the Lisbon Agenda was supposed to help guide policy, it does not tell governments how to address the problems they face and it is powerless to pressure them to focus more on pressing long-term issues. It is for this reason that Lamberti argued the Commission must play a more active role in coordinating economic policies that have long-term stakes and in pressuring politicians on a national level to stop ignoring the key issues for the future.
 
Background Policy Brief: Economic Values and Dynamism in the EU Economy by Prof. Stefano Micossi
 
Third Session: Foreign Policy
 
Panelists: Robert Cooper, Director General for External Relations, Council of the European Union 
Michael Emerson, Senior Fellow, CEPS, former Ambassador of the EU to Russia
H.E. Rockwell A. Schnabel, Representative of the United States to the European Union
 
The third panel focused on the role of values in EU foreign policy. The panellists discussed the extent to which norms and interests can be reconciled in EU relations with the rest of the world. They also compared the EU approach to foreign affairs to those of the US and Russia and commented on the compatibility and/or divergences of principles and methods in the foreign policies of the EU and its major counterparts on the international scene. The panellists agreed that the US and the EU share a commitment to common values. Democracy, respect for human rights, rule of law are among the values that unite America and Europe. Where the US differs from the EU according to Michael Emerson is on four accounts: lesser commitment to multilateralism and to sustainable development, greater preparedness to use force and lack of a regime to integrate its neighbours. In contrast, contemporary Russia scores vary poorly on the set of values that constitute the core of EU’s identity. The power of attraction of the EU value system has been so strong as to profoundly transform the societies of Central and Eastern Europe. These changes attest to the powerful force the EU has turned into just by what it is and not so much by what it does in international affairs, Robert Cooper maintained.
 
Background Policy Brief: What values for Europe? The Ten Commandments  by Michael Emerson
 
Text of the speech by Ambassador Schnabel.