Challenges for the German EU Presidency
Preface
On 1 January 2007 the German government will take over the presidency of the EU Council for six months. This is a highly responsible task, certainly in the current political situation. The EU Regional Office in Brussels took the opportunity to submit the following questions to a number of Green and Green-minded authors:
- What are the most important problems in your area of specialisation at European level?
- What should be the (long-term) solutions?
- How can the German government contribute to resolving these problems?
The articles in this brochure present the ideas and recommendations that were offered to us. We would like to give all authors our heartfelt thanks for their collaboration and hope that their ideas will provoke fruitful discussions within both, the German government and the general public. We profoundly wish that on 1 July 2007 we can look back at a German presidency which provided new momentum in Europe and succeeded in regaining the trust of the EU citizens in the European project. With this in mind we will critically observe the work of the German government and accompany it with our own activities.
Brussels, December 2006
Claude Weinber,
Director EU Regional Office in Brussels
Heinrich Böll Foundation
Table of Contents
The complete brochure (pdf, 88 pages, 2,05 MB) can be downloaded here.
- Preface by Ralf Fücks: Agenda 2007 – Expectations for the German Presidency of the Council in the European Union
- Renate Künast: The future of the EU Constitution
- Milan Horácek: How far can enlargement go?
- Marieluise Beck: The future of European Common Foreign and Security Policy
- Michaele Schreyer: The EU budget - the postponed reform
- Frithjof Schmidt: Path clear for development? Opportunities and challenges for the German Presidency
- Rebecca Harms: European Energy Policy – climate protection without nuclear risks
- John Hontelez: Environment: High expectations for Germany's leading role
- Friedrich Wilhelm Graefe zu Baringdorf & Hannes Lorenzen: Democratic Rural Policy – a challenge for the German Presidency
- Frank Bsirske: Struggling for Europe's social dimension
- Barbara Unmüssig & Ulrike Allroggen: Two steps forward and one step back: European Gender Policy - review and perspectives
- Claudia Roth: Towards a comprehensive EU Human Rights Policy
- Rainder Steenblock: International security, democracy and civil rights
- Michael Daxner: Higher education and research
- Edgar Grande: Europe – an open political project. Remarks on the identity and finality of the EU
Further volumes of the series "Publication Series on Europe"
Volume 2: The future of the Constitutional Treaty: Positions and proposals of the Greens and other European political actors
A study by Michaele Schreyer
February 2007