Keeping on the lights

Romana Jordan-Cizelj asks what – if anything – the Slovenian presidency can do to help the Balkans, and in particular tackle the growing energy crisis there

Slovenians were euphoric when we realised that we would be the first new EU member state presidency, an honour that came within months of being the first of the 2004 EU entrants to adopt the euro. Slovenian citizens were reaching for their thesauruses to find new words to define national pride, economic achievement and political maturity as Slovenia established itself as a state reborn after the dissolution of the former Yugoslavia.

But all this success brings with it an enormous responsibility to our citizens, to Europe and to our non-EU neighbours. As far as the Balkans are concerned, the question of what the Slovenian presidency can do to help the political and economic situation there is yet to be fully answered. Holding the EU Presidency is not like driving the ‘community car’ for half a year. It is more like driving a train, whose direction and destination are already set, and limited by the tracks that it must run on. The next driver will have the same rails and the same direction, so there is no chance to plot a different journey or take the scenic route. The driver has only the opportunity to vary the speed, stop the train or, at most, eject some of the baggage or passengers. That is why I think it is important not to expect too much of the Slovenian ‘driver’.

Another ‘first’ for our EU presidency is that we are situated close to the Balkans and we are familiar with its culture, history, language and so on. I am very pleased that my government has set the issues facing that troubled region as one of its top priorities for the presidency. The ancient and more recent history of the Balkans is peppered with unrest, war and death. Today and in the future, we must all endeavour to solve the root causes of those troubles, some of which remain today but which, I would contend, have a much greater chance of resolution now that the EU has embraced at least part of this much troubled region.

Take energy supply, for instance: since January 2007, the Balkan region has experienced a worsening situation that threatens to reverse so many of the economic, social and environmental improvements that characterised the previous decade. Just as the Balkan Mountains have their roots in Bulgaria, so does this growing energy problem. But let us not blame one of our newest EU family members for this disaster; Bulgaria had no choice but to close four units of the Kozloduy nuclear power plant in order to begin their accession process – unwittingly plunging the region into economic, social, environmental and actual darkness. I have a feeling that the Bulgarian government of the day would have sold their collective grandmothers to get the accession process under way, and that an energy crisis in the Balkans would have been considered a small price to pay for EU membership.

I had another life before politics. I worked as a nuclear energy engineer at Slovenia’s Krsko nuclear power plant. I cannot tell from my own studies that the Kozloduy units which were closed down were safe, but I can say that the countless number of serious independent experts who have reached this conclusion from their inspections and safety analyses should at least have their opinions listened to. Since becoming a member of the European parliament, I have campaigned alongside colleagues from all the major parties and several different countries to ask for a review, against all current criteria, of the 1999 closure agreement that meant a reduction of almost 2000MW of clean, safe energy for the Balkans – a source now considered crucial as we fight against environmental damage, energy dependency, power cuts, high energy prices and potential civil unrest. When a person has several illnesses, does it not make sense to treat the curable ones first? And does not this argument apply to the Balkan region as well?

So looking ahead, I hope I will be able to say that the Slovenian presidency convinced its fellow EU member states to start a full review of energy supply and demand in south east Europe and to show a pragmatic and open-minded approach to perhaps the most pressing issue within the EU, its neighbouring states and beyond. We will have to wait until July to find out whether or not my hopes are well founded.