Slowakischer Kommissar: "Meine Zugehörigkeit ist sozialdemokratisch"[en] 

Before becoming Slovakia's European commissioner, for the last five years Maroš Šefčovič, a career diplomat and a graduate of the Moscow State Institute for International Relations, was his country's Permanent Representative to the EU in Brussels. 

Media have been speculating about your nomination as Commissioner for months. When was it actually discussed with you a how did you feel about it? 

Concrete discussion regarding this issue took place after the official announcement of [former Slovak commissioner] Jan Figel [last September] that he returns to national politics. I considered this nomination to be a great honour and a professional challenge. At the same time, I realized the huge responsibility that goes with this post, given that decisions of European Commission have eventually impact on almost 500 millions of European citizens. 

You are the only career diplomat without political affiliation in the outgoing Commission. As Ambassador and permanent representative of your country, you have acquired experience with preparation of Council meetings; do you believe this will be an advantage in your next work? 

Definitely. During my five years as permanent representative of Slovak republic at the EU, I had the chance to gain close overview of functioning of mechanism and administrative procedures in the European institutions. What is more, during this time I was able to build a network of professional contacts, which, I hope, I will appropriately benefit from in my new function. At the interview with EC president José Manuel Barroso I informed him that I will work with social-democratic affiliation, which was positively acknowledged by him as well as by the chairmen of EP social democrats group M. [Martin] Schulz. The European Commission is interested in having the best possible cooperation with EP. In this sense I will try to do my best for the continuous intensification of horizontal political communication. 

Some say that it was a tactical mistake for Slovakia to clearly ask for you the energy portfolio in new Commission. Do you agree? 

The distribution of portfolios is an exclusive competence of president of Commission president Barroso, who has to build a team able to gather the support of the EP and to build authority among member countries and citizens of the EU. That is why the Commission president will put emphasis on wide political, professional, geographical and gender balance of the next Commission. 

We are approaching the phase when taking into consideration all these aspects becomes crucial in the forming of the new team. Too much mediatisation of strongly formulated requests in this period could have unwanted effects. 

What is the advantage for Slovakia in having energy, or another “strong” portfolio? 

The code of conduct of Commissioners and EU Treaties are very clear – the members of the EC cannot seek or accept instructions from national government or other subjects. Their utmost priority is pursuing the wide European interest. At the same time every Commissioner brings his own experience and concept of values acquired in his previous career. This experience helps the Commissioner in building horizontal authority and influence, and for being effective in the College of Commissioners. 

Is it vital for Slovakia to have a strong Commission, capable of withstanding the pressure of national interests? 

Since it joined the EU, the Slovak Republic has been a strong advocate of communitarian methods and of respect for European and international law. For middle sized countries such as the Slovak Republic, a stable and respected legal framework is the main guarantee of its equal status on the international scene. EU membership significantly strengthened Slovakia’s international standing. It is also necessary to point out, that the influence of SR in comparison to countries outside of the EU, is much higher and much more tangible today. 

One of the main missions of the EC is to be the “guardian of the treaties”. The high number of infringement procedures and related imposition of fines for breaking the rules of the single market serve as evidence that this is a very demanding duty which EC takes very seriously. Therefore a strong EU, respected and able to resist the pressure from members’ states, if their demands are in conflict with wide European interest, or European law, is in Slovakia’s interest.

Do you expect that Barroso II will be fundamentally different from the outgoing Commission, at least in some respects? 

When we look at the political guidelines of José Manuel Barroso, it is evident that the new Commission will with great energy engage in the preparations of the midterm strategy to strengthen the overall position of EU in the 2020 horizon. The priority of the awaited strategy for the EU in 2020 will be measures for increasing the competitiveness of the European economics, to ease the impact of financial, economic and social crisis and the creation of conditions for stimulating economic growth and creation of jobs. There will be even more emphasis on quality lifelong learning, investments in research and development and further modernization of EU budget. I also foresee that the Commission will focus on diversification of energy networks, the construction of low-cost energy transmission networks and issues such global warming and climate change. We cannot overlook that we are also bound to reevaluate the structure of EU budget and the upcoming negotiations on future financial perspective. 

Don’t you think that José Manuel Barroso should have had an opponent over the election of EC president? 

José Manuel Barroso was the first and with a great anticipation, to announced his intention to seek reelection. His mother party EPP won the election to the European parliament and his nomination obtained quick and unanimous support of European Council. The vote in EP after a difficult internal discussion confirmed this support across the political spectrum. 

Do you see yourself as a “middleman” between Slovakia and Brussels? 

As I have already said, the main role of the EC is promoting the wide European interest. Besides that, an important part of the mandate of each EC member is to act as a kind of double-way channel – which means trying to put more light into the Commission functioning, and at the same time bringing into his work in Brussels information on how are the European policies perceived in the concrete Member state, in y case the country which I know best, Slovakia. 

Which of the topics from the last five years could be called “Slovak topics”? 

The main theme was to finish the integration into all European structures. The Slovak Republic was on head of the countries, which were expressly pushing for the enlargement of the Schengen zone, and in spite of some technical complications in our preparations, we have managed to enter Schengen together with other countries. We have also managed to join the Eurozone, which had an immense effect, not only economically but also politically. The economic convergence was also one of the Slovak topics, meaning leveling the economic differences between the Member countries and their regions. Slovakia was advocating it, together with other countries, during the negotiations on the financial perspective. The Slovak Republic was very successful in this regard, and today, after five years, we could talk about Slovakia having average GDP per capita on 69% of the EU average, instead of 49%. 

I would also mention our continuing support to the EU enlargement, intense Slovak activity in the Western Balkans region, where the current Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajčák played an important role, or our support to the development of relations in the framework of the Eastern partnership. 

Slovakia was also active in the discussions on energy mix and energy security. In fact, we had “our” topic in each key area. We were always realistic and pro-European; thanks to that we were able to push our priorities and build an image of serious pro-European partner. 

Don’t you fear the disappearing enthusiasm for European integration in Germany? 

Not at all; even during the strained times of the economic crisis, Germany was steady supporter of the community methods and European solutions. German presidency in the EU was an example of concentrating on the European topics. Engagement of the Chancellor Angela Merkel and other high German representatives in the European issues is the best example of continuous German enthusiasm for the EU. However it is natural that all of us have to do more for better understanding of the European processes, and the immense added value of the EU membership for European citizens. 

Do you agree that the EU is “too intellectual and only for specialists”? 

I don’t think so. There is an understanding in the EU, especially after the last rounds of the enlargement, that sufficient knowledge of citizens is a key issue and in this context it has recently launched a number of initiatives and information campaigns, aimed at conveying the message precisely that the Union is not “too intellectual and only for specialists”, but part of the everyday life of its citizens. It is our role to communicate the positive effect and the high added value of being in the European family. 

What could animate the European debate in Slovakia, as over the EP elections it proved to be not very developed? 

Actually the elections debates in all EU member countries were dominated by national themes. We have to draw lessons from this phenomenon. More activity of the political elites, educational institutions or media will be needed. European topics and European knowledge should inspire for the same place in national political discussions as internal developments. At the same time I think that the “European discussion” will naturally become more intense in the new member countries. I am convinced that thanks to the information activities of the European and national institutions, in a few years the discussion on European issues will be perceived among citizens as a normal thing, and the difference between the “European” and “Slovak” topics would slowly fade away.