Polish approach weakens V4’s leverage to influence the future of Europe

Right when the European unity was more vocally proclaimed around its 60th celebration, it was challenged once more during the March 2017 European Council in Brussels, when Donald Tusk was re-elected as Council’s President. Polish Prime Minister, Beata Szydlo, voted against his compatriot’s appointment and was outvoted 27-1 by the other Member States.

The Polish government has been increasingly drifting away from the core of the EU during the past couple of years and this event would likely accelerate this trend. In this report, VoteWatch Europe looks at the voting behaviour of Polish representatives into the broader EU decision-making picture (Council and European Parliament), which highlighted increasing divergence even with traditional allies, such as Hungary’s FIDESZ.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: Joint Statement of the Heads of Governments of the V4 Countries 'Strong Europe – Union of Action and Trust'. Input to Rome Declaration 2017 http://www.europeansources.info/record/joint-statement-of-the-heads-of-governments-of-the-v4-countries-strong-europe-union-of-action-and-trust-input-to-rome-declaration-2017/

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