EUGENIUSZ KŁOPOTEK

Damian A. Zaczek: Mr. Deputy, you observe the work of the European Parliament in Strasburg and Brussels. What conclusions have you formulated for our euordeputies in spe?
EUGENIUSZ KŁOPOTEK: I would probably be more pleased if I had seen less. For over one year now I have been traveling to Strasburg and Brussels to see up close the functioning of union mechanisms. Sadly, I have observed that the EU is losing its ideology and is driven more and more by interests and less and less by solidarity between countries. There is progressively less of the idea on the basis of which the foundations of the European community were built in the 1950s. That is the source of my uneasiness concerning May 1, 2004.

What have our observers at the European Parliament learned?
We have collected an enormous amount of experiences but they are used by our observers with varying amounts of success. The greatest opportunities for participation and taking the podium are enjoyed by parliamentarians from a specific parliamentary fraction, like, for example, the PSL. I would like to add that, together with the Citizens’ Platform – we are within the largest fraction – of the European Peasants’ Party (Christian Democrats). We can express our views on the issues which affect us but do not have the right to vote. However, our parliamentarians who do not belong to any europarliamentary fraction are slightly lost and isolated. The benefit of their stay in Strasburg is not great.

What issues have you placed on the europarliament forum?
We have taken up a few interventional matters. We criticized the untimely statement of Pat Cox during the convention of Sudeten Germans. We intervened when there were attempts to keep us from speaking during the agricultural commission’s sessions. I would like to remind readers that article 23 of the Accession Treaty, which is underestimated by the Polish government, imposes a shadow over our negotiations in Copenhagen. The article, which concerns common agricultural policy, says that between the signature of the Accession Treaty and Poland’s entry into the EU, if the Union changes anything – even in our disfavor – in relation to what was agreed upon in Copenhagen, we can negotiate and at the very least protest unsuccessfully. We have to accept that what was imposed upon us. Today we see how a Union without scruples can take advantage of that note in our disfavor.

You spoke a great deal but what did you accomplish?
I have to admit that there were only attempts to intervene. We have seen that observers do not have the ability to force through anything. The leader of the agricultural commission is French and the commentator is German. Those are precisely the two countries which rule in EU agriculture. The commentator announced a formal motion not to discuss the subject of propositions for changes in common agricultural policy – changes which would not benefit Poland. We wrote a letter to Pat Cox but aside from apologies the matter is unlikely to turn up anything. In order to win anything you have to have allies and know how to build short-term coalitions. Even Spain withdrew its support of our position concerning the EU constitution. I am afraid that our obstinacy on this issue may end in failure.

Failure or compromise?
We will have to compromise. We don’t acknowledge the foolish slogan “Nice or death.”

Will you run as a candidate to the European Parliament?
Yes, if I want to take advantage of the experiences I have accumulated to date as an observer at the European Parliament. The decision to announce my candidacy belongs to the Polish Peasants’ Party. My constituency is the kujawsko-pomorskie province. I realize that with such low support at the moment for PSL, the chances for my selection are slight. However, as a leader of the party in kujawsko-pomorskie should I account for PSL’s election ballot?

Do you have a prescription for choosing the right representatives to the EP?
Firstly, I expect very low voter turnout in the elections – particularly in the countryside – and that means that Polish agriculture may not be represented in the EP. Let us remember that over 40 percent of the EU’s budget is absorbed by the common agricultural policy. If farmers want to have a significant voice in that pool, that have to vote for representatives of the Polish countryside. If not for representatives from PSL then for others who have not yet betrayed the Polish countryside. PSL has and will not betray it.