Plenty of ambition but little fanfare

From economic growth to green transport, Belgium has given itself a lot to do during its presidency.

The economic crisis and its origins have shaped Belgium’s choice of policy priorities for its EU presidency. In Belgium’s judgement, the most important issues are how the EU responds to the economic crisis, to the threat of a sovereign-debt crisis and to the regulatory failures in the financial markets.

In addition, the Belgian government has given itself a busy workload across the full spectrum of EU policy. This is a presidency that, in comparison to the French and Spanish presidencies, will be short of flag-waving headline-grabbing initiatives. But it will still be a presidency with ambition, aiming to clear a lot of significant legislative hurdles.

On the economy, the Belgian government is committed to continuing work on Europe 2020, the EU’s strategy for boosting growth and jobs, with the aim of agreeing national reform programmes and advancing initiatives from the European Commission.

The Belgians want to emphasise the importance to the European economy of research, development and innovation, and would like them to be the subject of discussion at the December summit of national leaders.

The Belgians will follow up a report by former European commissioner Mario Monti on completing the internal market. The Belgian emphasis will be on removing bottlenecks, especially in infrastructure.

The presidency will also have plenty of EU housework to do, looking after institutional innovations and the budget.

The Lisbon treaty has introduced the possibility for European citizens to petition for legislative action. The Belgian presidency’s task will be to establish the rules governing such citizens’ initiatives.

The presidency will have to broker agreement between the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament on a budget for 2011, the first under the changed Lisbon rules that give more power to MEPs and reduce the number of readings required to reach such a deal. The Council and the Parliament have to reach a new agreement on how they finalise budgets and deal with MEPs’ ambition to scrutinise the Council’s spending more closely.

After the Commission has set out a paper on future options in the autumn, the Belgians will launch a debate on the 2014-20 budget. In parallel, the presidency will start debate on the future of the Common Agricultural Policy.

Low-carbon plans

Environmental policy could be dominated by preparations for the next round of international negotiations on climate change to be held in Cancún, Mexico, in November. The presidency wants to encourage the transition to a low-carbon economy, looking in particular on using tax incentives and addressing the external costs of road transport.

The Belgian government will try to conclude negotiations on carbon dioxide emissions limits for light commercial vehicles.

There are a number of other legislative initiatives where the Belgian government hopes to complete negotiations with Council and the MEPs. They include the Eurovignette, dangerous substances and electronic waste (the ROHS and WEEE directives), the pharmaceuticals package, food labelling and novel foods.

The Belgian presidency will begin with the adoption by the Parliament, expected next week, of a new agreement with the United States on transferring bank data (the SWIFT agreement). The Commission will then begin negotiations with the US on a more comprehensive data-sharing agreement that is also likely to require mediation between the Commission and MEPs of the kind undertaken by Spain on the SWIFT agreement.

The EU, represented by Belgium, will begin negotiations with the Council of Europe on the EU’s accession to the European Convention on Human Rights. Toward the end of the year, member states are expected to approve a proposal by the Commission to drop visa requirements for Albania and for Bosnia.

If the Belgian presidency can deliver on all this, it will belie its current status as a caretaker government.