Dutch Outline Goals for EU Presidency

When the Netherlands takes the helm of the EU on Thursday, Brussels is going to be a quieter place than usual. A new European Parliament, just voted in in June, will still be in its organizational phase. The European Commission will be winding down; its term ends in October and several members have already returned to postings in their home countries.

Despite the low activity level -- Dutch EU ambassador Tom de Bruijn even admitted the presidency was taking place at a "rather difficult time" -- the Netherlands said it has set itself a full agenda for the next six months and wants to address a series of core issues, some which have been on the back burner for years.

Turkey

One divisive topic, however, which is increasingly on everyone's mind and will come to a head later this year, is the issue of Turkey's bid to join the European bloc.

Ankara has been an officially recognized candidate for EU membership since 1999 and over the last few years, has put in place a series of wide-ranging reforms -- such as abolishing the death penalty and changing policies regarding its Kurdish minority (photo) -- meant to put it in sync with EU institutions and meet the so-called Copenhagen criteria, a strict set of standards developed by the EU in areas such as human rights, the rule of law, and the rights of minorities.

Opinion over Turkey's readiness to start the EU accession process or even its suitability for EU membership in the first place is sharply divided among existing members. A Dutch newspaper has recently written: "Turkey is the hot potato on the Netherlands' plate."

The European Commission is set to release a report on Turkey's democratization process in October and European leaders will decide at a summit in December whether the EU is ready to start accession talks with Turkey.

The Dutch have said they want to make sure the decision over Turkey is "fair, transparent and sustainable," according to Foreign Minister Bernard Bot when he presented the Dutch priorities for the EU presidency last week.

"Turkey has made considerable progress in a relatively short time span," he said. "I am confident that further progress will be made in the coming six months."

Get out the vote

The Dutch take the reins just after the disastrous voter turnout in June European Parliament elections. Just 45.5 percent of the 350 million eligible voters bothered to cast ballots.

According to Bot, the Netherlands must use its time in the top spot to "explore new ways of communicating Europe in order to keep the public on board."

According to many analysts, many Europeans have a poor understanding of what the EU does, and what kind of role it plays in their everyday lives. Brussels is seen as a far-away bureaucracy with limited democratic credentials.

However, for some Dutch, the way to increase voter satisfaction and participation is be curbing some of Brussels' power. Bot has suggested some areas of policy that are now decided at the EU level could be transferred back to EU member states.

Money, security and the everyday

Other areas of interest for the Dutch include reviving plans to increase the future economic heft of the 25-member bloc, a strategy that was agreed on at an EU summit in Lisbon, but which has not been aggressively pursued since. The so-called Lisbon strategy aims to make the EU the world's leading economy by 2010.

In the wake of the war in Iraq and the March 11 bombings in Madrid, security will play large during the next six months, according to the Dutch, who want the EU to get tougher on terrorism. The Hague has also expressed the desire to come up with a common European asylum policy.

Less sexy, but equally important, is finding new and more efficient ways of managing day-to-day affairs in the newly enlarged union. Director of the Dutch bureau for the European Parliament, Sjerp van der Vaart, said the Hague should concentrate on "making the council's with 25 more effective by making new rules of procedure." There have been worries that adding 10 members to the bloc could result in decision-making logjams or even paralysis.

Cut the clichés, please

The Dutch are eager to show that, although a small nation, they are up to the task of guiding the union through a challenging transitional time.

That means they are also eager to avoid some of the symbols that have long been associated with the water-logged country -- namely, windmills, tulips and the ubiquitous wooden shoes.

"The cabinet isn't denying traditional symbols such as clogs and tulips," a spokesman for Dutch European Affairs Minister Atzo Nicolai said in an interview. "But nevertheless we want to portray a more modern image."

Tulips and quaint windmills might be seen as something nice, he added, but "totally nutty."