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Eastern Europe
Visit to Poland – Statements made by Mme Claudie Haigneré, Minister Delegate for European Affairs, during her joint press briefing with Mr Jaroslaw Pietras, Polish Minister of State for European Affairs (excerpts).
THE MINISTER – (...) I talked to Jaroslaw this morning and, before that, Mr Cimoszewicz, about European issues, to do with the neighbouring countries policy vis-à-vis our neighbours to the East and South of the European Union. Mr Pietras and I exchanged views on the absolutely essential debate on the forthcoming financial perspective and the ambitions Europe is setting itself to make a success of its enlargement. And we of course talked about the ratification of the Constitutional Treaty, which will allow us to press on with building Europe. In addition to the many cooperation projects between French and Polish government departments, our two countries’ ministers and presidents also work together not only in specific areas but also in political matters. Indeed, your president will be in France on 4 October. (...) EU BUDGET/TAX HARMONIZATION Q. – My first question concerns what Mr Pietras has already said about the budgetary issues and the two countries’ different approaches to them. As far as the structural funds are concerned, the stakes are important for Poland. When it comes to the CAP they are slightly less so, since the funds are capped until 2013. I’d like your comments on this. My second question concerns tax harmonization. Is there any possibility of a compromise on this, perhaps of discussing a minimum tax acceptable to all?
THE MINISTER – As Mr Pietras said, we totally agree on how we have to approach this discussion, which is going to be a long one. Europe must have ambitions, we also have to be able, as everyone knows, to respect certain budgetary constraints at both European and national levels. What are the objectives and issues involved? What can Europe do in the coming period? We must target these objectives and decide on a budget which allows us to achieve them. The cohesion and solidarity policy, particularly vis-à-vis the new member States whose development in some sectors lags behind, is a priority. It’s a priority for France who is, of course, ready to contribute to this solidarity effort. The financing of the agricultural policy is a subject of common interest to France and Poland and one on which agreements were reached a few months ago in the framework of an important reform. As regards taxation, there’s a debate in France on relocations, and the industrial strategies we can implement to avoid them. We’re in an internal market which has to operate without unfair competition. It’s extremely important to look into the idea of harmonizing the corporate tax base. The Commission and ECOFIN Council have decided to think about the need to harmonize this tax base, which is necessary for many companies with establishments in different European countries. This is a first step in the discussion. WEIMAR TRIANGLE/EU Q. – Can the state of relations between Poland and Germany influence relations within the Weimar Triangle and the relations between European Union States?
THE MINISTER – I'm not going to discuss relations between Poland and Germany. I shall simply say that relations between France and Germany were very complex 50 years ago; since then they have been at the heart of the progress in building Europe, an enterprise which has shown just how important this relationship was for peace and stability on our continent. I believe that our keenness to work together in every sphere in this three-party format – the Weimar Triangle, between France, Poland and Germany – precisely demonstrates a desire to move forward together, to find solutions for Europe's future./.
Embassy of France in the United States - September 26, 2004
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