Changing Europe - Ratify or step into the EU shadows

IN THE two decades since the Berlin Wall collapsed, Europe has changed beyond all recognition.

The membership of the European Union has also changed utterly. The union is far bigger, far more diverse and has become a stronger player on the world stage than it was in 1989 when the people of eastern and western Europe rejected divisions imposed by mutually exclusive political and social ideologies.

The EU is more secure and confident of its place in the world and the role it can play in the lives of the 500 million people who live within its far-flung borders.

Indeed, it can influence for the better the lives of many living outside of its borders and act as a counterbalance to the power of the United States, especially in the ever-more explosive Middle East. The pressure the EU is exerting on Israel to end its attacks on Palestinians trapped on the Gaza Strip are welcome and must be encouraged.

European integration passed a significant milestone yesterday when the Czech Republic took over the community’s presidency from France.

It is not so very long ago since Czechoslovakia was a repressed Soviet satellite with little if any independence. The once-communist Czechoslovakia was treated brutally by the Soviets before it split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993 after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. This recent history inevitably shapes the country’s world view and its commitment to human rights. It is remarkable that a country, for so long and until so recently, under the unforgiving thumb of an aggressive, brutal and autocratic neighbour, can assume the presidency of the EU just five years after becoming a member of the union. This represents a powerful realisation of the ethos, the unity and the great momentum working towards an ever greater Europe.

This is made all the more remarkable when you consider that the Czech Republic retains its currency though Slovakia joined the eurozone yesterday.

It is even more remarkable as the Czechs have not ratified the Lisbon treaty.

The incoming presidency will have a huge role to play in shaping the EU response to the extremely difficult economic challenges facing us all. Elsewhere on these pages the Czech Republic’s prime minister Mirek Topolanek gives a detailed outline of how his country sees its role over the next six months, but he has already identified three pivotal areas. Mr Topolanek identifies the “three Es” — economy, energy and external relations — as the central issues.

This is an unavoidable agenda and it is likely that economic matters will dominate the EU and all national agendas for some time to come.

The Czech Republic’s presidency is also a strong indication of how quickly new realities evolve and how very quickly positions we once imagined cast in stone change.

Whether we like it or not we took a step back from this great project when we voted against the Lisbon treaty last year. Whether we like it or not Europe will evolve and change with or without us.

Mr Topolanek spoke of the “three Es” but our Government does not have the luxury of concentrating its efforts on just three fronts. It must, in a year of European and local elections, lead a campaign that ends with the ratification of Lisbon. Otherwise we will become what Czechoslovakia was not so long ago: included but irrelevant, independent but feeble, sovereign but just a voice in the wilderness.