EU power grab resisted by ECR chairman
Jan Zahradil might just be an interim solution to the chairmanship of the European Conservatives and Reformist Group in the European Parliament, but he has already set himself a busy agenda of fighting against a power-grab by the European Union - in areas such as the budget, the single market and European economic governance – writes Rikard Jozwiak.
The Czech is wary of moves that would imply more harmonization of taxes at a European level and is critical of those, including the European Commission, who have been calling for supranational economic governance to safeguard the euro. "I think that we have to learn to live with the fact that we are living in a multi-speed Europe, or at least a two-speed Europe," he tells PublicServiceEUrope.com. "This means that not all member states are able or willing to move in the same direction and at the same speed."
He cites the example of Ireland – the country effectively being threatened to give up its low corporate tax to get a bail-out - as a warning of a more interventionist EU, when it comes to fiscal matters. "We will always be on the side of those who want to retain more powers of member states rather than giving it up on the European level," he vows.
The ECR group was founded after the last European Parliament elections in 2009, and consists mainly of British Tories and representatives from the Polish Law and Justice Party and the Czech Civil Democratic Party. Unlike the EP's largest centre-right party grouping, the European People's Party, the ECR has a clear anti-federalist agenda. "We don't wish to build something like a federalist state of Europe with strong central powers for the European Commission and the EP," explains Zahradil.
That most of the MEPs in his political group come from countries outside the eurozone area might result in a fear of being sidelined in the big political discussion about the future of the currency, but Zahradil believes that neither the ECR nor non-euro members need to worry. "I am favouring the situation where the United Kingdom, Poland and the Czech Republic or any other country will be authorised to decide on their own fiscal and tax policy and be perfectly autonomous in these questions rather than be pushed somewhere by some form of economic governance, which might happen if those countries were member of eurozone," he says.
His standpoint is similar when it comes to the single market directive, which once again is on the EU agenda. Hailing the single market as the union's greatest achievement and remaining supportive of completing the directive by introducing free movement of services, Zahradil is once again warning against the calls of more harmonisation of pension, healthcare and social systems that might follow. "The main point of services is free movement - fiscal autonomy is the ultimate is sovereign right of every nation state," he adds.
It is, though, in the upcoming debate about the next EU budget for the period 2013-2020 - where he is likely to face the biggest difficulties, at least internally. Several member states, spearheaded by the UK, have already questioned the rationale of increasing the EU budget when countries have been forced to trim their national budgets substantially with domestic haircuts.
Zahradil does not want an increase in the union's budget, but several of his Polish party colleagues are in favour of more supranational funds being directed to the poorer central and eastern parts of the union. "If we are able to get a structural change within the budget without increasing the volume so we get more money for structural funds, I would be happy with that," he says, underlining that he wants to see less direct payments to farmers under the union's Common Agricultural Policy.
Staying on as the chairman of the group till December this year leaves him little time to implement all the changes he desires, although he has left a little door open to continue up to the next European elections in 2014. "I made a promise that if there is a UK Tory candidate that could take over, I will not stand again," he says - referring to an agreement in the group stipulating that an MEP from a new member state would be the chairman in the first half of the mandate, before someone from the British Conservatives take over. Whatever the outcome, there are interesting times ahead for the ECR.
