2011 reflections: Jerzy Buzek

From the ‘six-pack’ deal to the new MEP code of conduct, 2011 has been a rollercoaster year for the European parliament, writes Jerzy Buzek.

As we approach the end of the year, and my mandate as president of the European parliament draws to a close, it is customary to look back at recent events. Despite the economic challenges, 2011 stands on the plus side of the balance sheet even if the significance of some events can only to be fully discerned with hindsight.

Dominated by the response to the economic crisis, it has been an important year for the European parliament; let me select just three highlights. First the adoption of the ‘six-pack’ - six EU laws designed to tighten up economic governance in the EU. The pack deals with fiscal issues, including a reform of the EU stability and growth pact and new regulations to detect and address macroeconomic imbalances within the EU and the euro area. Second, parliament adopted the important ‘citizens’ initiative’. The European commission will now have to consider drafting a new EU law if so requested by at least one million EU citizens, under a new procedure introduced by the Lisbon treaty. Third, the parliament that I have had the privilege to lead for two and half years adopted the code of conduct for MEPs. The new code of conduct will be a strong shield against unethical behaviour. Increased power of the European parliament must be accompanied by increased responsibility and transparency on behalf of its members.

Our memory of 2011 will inevitably be linked to the tragic earthquake and tsunami which shook Japan causing tens of thousands of victims, missing people, material as well as moral devastation. We shall not forget all those who lost their life as a result of this incredible natural catastrophe. And we shall not forget the dignity and strength with which the Japanese nation bound together and quickly restarted to reconstruct their country. Also the examples of courage and self-sacrifice of the workers at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant stand vividly in our memory as the devastation of the tsunami quickly turned into a nuclear threat.

But 2011 was also the year of the end of Osama bin Laden. His death symbolically closed a decade which started on 11 September 2001 and made the world realise the magnitude of the terrorist threat worldwide. In the last decade, we have better understood the risks of terrorism, but this threat has not disappeared, even if it has subsided.

Undeniably 2011 will also be remembered as the year of the Arab Spring. On 17 December 2010, a street vendor, Mohamed Bouazizi, in the Tunisian city of Sidi Bouzid, decided to defend his dignity by taking his own life. His death served as a spark to light up new hopes in populations who for too long had been repressed or mistreated, where authoritarianism and paternalism were the norm. First in Tunisia, then in Egypt and Libya people seized back their dignity and their power. We understood that there is no long-term stability without the respect of fundamental freedoms.

The EU and the European parliament can be proud of their role. We have supported the legitimate demands of the people since the very beginning; have provided legitimacy to unrecognised opposition groups; have awarded our Sakharov prize for human rights defenders to five representatives of the Arab Spring: Asmaa Mahfouz (Egyptian April 6th youth movement) Ahmed al-Zubair Ahmed al-Sanusi (the longest-serving “prisoner of conscience” in Libyan prisons) Razan Zaitouneh (Syrian human rights information link blog) Ali Farzat (a political satirist and well-known critic of the Syrian regime) and Mohamed Bouazizi himself. I went personally to Libya, Tunisia and Egypt, and was the first EU official to visit Libya after the death of Gaddafi. The EU and the European parliament have stressed that we are ready to support the democratic ambitions of the peoples in North Africa and the Middle East, as long as the transition remains inclusive, democratic and respectful of human rights. The EU is more interested in the democratic process than the results of the elections.

The year 2011 will be remembered for the continuing sovereign debt crisis. This has been labelled in different ways: a euro crisis, a crisis of confidence, of governance, of legitimacy, and a banking crisis. I believe that the solution largely lies in going back to basics. We have decided to pool together some of our sovereignty, and hand it over to independent institutions, because international agreements are not sufficient to guarantee the credibility of covenants between states. I am convinced that all member states have understood that our interdependence needs to be supplemented with robust and credible European institutions. 2011 was truly an annus mirabilis for our partners on the northern shores of the Mediterranean; let’s hope their bravery, leadership and belief in dignity can be replicated in other parts of the world in 2012.

Jerzy Buzek is president of the European parliament