Enlargement pains the union
The surfacing of antipathy towards European Union enlargement which contributed to the collapse of the Dutch government highlights the danger of widespread tensions about the true cost of accession simmering within member states, EU insiders said.
A summit of EU member states in Brussels this week is set to approve enlargement and fix the budget for the admission of 10 new member states after the completion of negotiations in December. While the success of the summit depends on whether a Dutch interim government will have the authority to take part in the summit, the country's turmoil may trigger further enlargement opposition within member states.
"The Nice Treaty suggests a super-state - this is what has sparked resurgent forces concerned about immigration and cultural swamping in countries like Ireland and Holland - but it is by no means confined to them," said Edward MacMillan Scott, a member of the European Parliament-Sejm joint committee, veteran MEP and former leader of the UK's Conservative party in Strasbourg. "These fears are always the kind of things that parties of chancers and opportunists will seize upon, but they can't be ignored."
After only 100 days in power, Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende dissolved his government last Wednesday after a conflict within the three-party coalition triggered by the Pim Fortuyn List (PML) and VVD parties.
The rift was triggered by the European Commission's report on the readiness of candidate states for EU entry, urging Poland to immediately resolve issues in the areas of agriculture, fishing, the environment and steel industry restructuring and expressing deep concern about corruption and the weak judicial system.
Holland's PML and VVD parties voiced opposition to the accession of Poland, Slovakia and Cyprus in 2004. Despite the dissolution of the government, political observers see further enlargement opposition from Holland since the country is a net contributor to the EU budget.
A Dutch diplomat in Warsaw hoped that an interim government could be formed quickly and will have the authority to vote in the Brussels summit since the election of a new government could take up to three months.
"I don't think the situation in the Netherlands will have any impact on the enlargement process," said Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the Prime Minister of Denmark, the current EU president state. "The Dutch government has committed itself to the timetable. I have no indication that there has been any change in that."
The fracture increased tensions in Poland where the government faced its own internal power struggle when the dominant SLD party's coalition partner, PSL, protested Treasury Minister Wiesław Kaczmarek's decision to sell Warsaw power distributor Stoen to German utility RWE.
Poland's EU minister Danuta Hubner expressed the government's dismay at the events in Holland. "The government feels the full weight of the responsibility and the enormity of the tasks ahead of us and is, of course, disconcerted," she said.
Insiders in Brussels called the collapse of the Dutch government an explosion waiting to happen, although the enlargement process is probably not endangered in the long run. But they see the commission report's whitewashing the readiness of applicant states as too much to swallow for the diverse political forces in a number of members, which range from Greens preoccupied with a neutral non-militarist Europe to rightists and parties worried about losing national sovereignty and identity in the process of enlargement.
"It's true that the Commission's report on the condition of the applicants was laughed at even in Brussels, but that's the Commission for you: they simply don't like making enemies and already they are seeing themselves dealing directly with the Polish government as a member," MacMillan Scott said.
MacMillan Scott drew a parallel with Greece, "which was admitted to the Union purely for strategic purposes as it will be the same with Poland" in commenting on the criticism of Poland's accession readiness.
"Even though Poland is hopelessly unready for membership - and frankly Poland is almost uniquely bad; it's a basket case - it remains the fact that there are good people there who are striving hard to overcome these problems and make something better of Polish society," he said. "It's that which will prevail in the end."
Dutch companies and investors in Poland have expressed their solidarity for Poland's EU accession and emphasised its underlying benefits for the business community and for the European economy. Few could be drawn to comment on the crisis.
"Our bank works to international standards," said Marian Czakanski, the president of ING Banku lšskiego. "The main benefits of accession will be the lifting of barriers, which will increase the arena of co-operation between our clients."
