Štefan Füle, Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy
(Czech Republic, Socialist)

Background

Štefan Füle has a long history in Czech diplomacy and government.  Before being appointed to the Commission, he was the Czech Minister for European Affairs.  Previous posts include First Secretary of the Czech Republic’s Mission to the UN, Ambassador to Lithuania and the United Kingdom, and Permanent Representative of the Czech Republic to NATO.  In 2000 he also briefly served as the First Deputy Minister of Defence.

 

Stated objectives on taking office

• To show candidate and neighbouring countries that there are real advantages of EU membership and this should be communicated more to the citizens;
• To manage the process following the government of Iceland’s application for EU membership;
• To finalize the accession negotiations for Croatia;
• To complete the outstanding visa facilitation agreements in the Balkans and maintain the momentum towards EU accession in the region;
• To ensure that Turkey’s accession remains a key leverage tool for achieving political reform and that the EU stands firm on membership requirements;
• To maintain the use of the EU Neighborhood Policy with regard to EU-Ukraine relations.

Members of the Cabinet

Simon MORDUE, Head of Cabinet
Jana Katarina LOLIĆ ŠINDELKOVÁ, Deputy Head of Cabinet
Gilles BERTRAND, Member, Neighbourhood Policy, Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia and the Union for the Mediterranean
Rudiger BOOGERT, Member, Cyprus issues, Iceland and Turkey
Claus GIERING, Member, Inter-institutional relations, Croatia and Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
Iwona PIORKO, Member, Eastern partnership, Belarus and Ukraine
Alena OBRUSNÍKOVÁ, Member, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Moldova
Pavel BOUDA, Member, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Occupied Palestinian Territories and Syria

Angela FILOTE, Spokesperson

 

Main actions to date

• Visiting many of the key countries in his remit, including the Western Balkans and Eastern Europe;
• Addressing the outcome of the recent Ukrainian elections and the wide-spread belief that the country would be taking a more Russian perspective on future relations;
• Organising the response to the application of Iceland to join the EU;
• Giving the green light for the Commission to propose to waiver short-term visa requirements for the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania.

What to expect

Štefan Füle appears to have made a solid start to his mandate.  His statements and speeches on the countries in Eastern Europe and the Balkans appear to be largely well received and have met with increased enthusiasm for EU accession in certain parts – in particular Croatia and Albania, with the latter pushing hard to speed up EU membership talks.  The Commission has very recently proposed visa-free travel for the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania – the two countries that had delayed national implementation – which will allow them to catch-up with their regional neighbours in terms of integration with the rest of Europe.