IDM Director at the 15th Grow East Congress

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Copyright Photo 1: WKÖ, Photo 2: Vladimir Vano

On 5 December 2024, not only did the IDM celebrate its 71st birthday and hold its annual conference, but the 15th edition of the Grow East Congress also took place at the Austrian Economic Chamber (WKÖ) in Vienna. IDM Director Sebastian Schäffer was invited to the first panel What is CEE’s current position and what is the outlook for the region? 

The discussion focused on developments in CEE from a historic, economic, political and societal perspective. The other panelists were Philipp Ther, Professor of Central European History at the University of Vienna; Gunter Deuber, Chief Economist/Head of Research and Managing Director at Raiffeisen Research, Vienna; and Martin Ehl, Chief Foreign Policy Analyst and Columnist at Hospodářské noviny, Prague. 

The IDM Director stressed the need for more ambitious reforms as well as enlargement efforts in the EU. On average, the negotiations from start to finish took around three and a half years, while the longest successful negotiation lasted 77 months with Portugal. As of December 2024, Brussels has already been negotiating with Montenegro for 150 months – more than twice as long – and there is no end in sight.  

However, the arduous path from the Treaty of Nice to Lisbon took 5.5 years, including two negative referendums in both France and the Netherlands on the Treaty for a Constitution for Europe and one negative referendum in Ireland on Lisbon. Deepening and widening is therefore possible within a single term of the European Commission – if bravery replaces the fear of failure. Crises can be averted by having a plan B ahead of time. There is no shortcut to enlargement, but the process can speed up significantly if the EU member states forego the excessive use of veto, of which there are 75 possibilities prior to membership. 

In any case, time is running out. National governments, but also institutions in Brussels, need to deliver, otherwise populists will succeed in destroying the achievements of the past seven decades, as well as the entire EU from within. This also means starting to think about the next multiannual financial framework, where agricultural subsidies are still among the biggest items in the budget. The region of CEE, in particular, still has capabilities for common defence spending. Furthermore, Schäffer strongly encouraged the consideration of a new Next Generation EU Programme to rebuild Ukraine.  

The session was moderated by Desislava Dikova, Professor of International Business, WU Vienna. More information on the Grow East Congress and the organisers can be found here.

 

You might be interested in Policy Paper “Embracing the Momentum: Why the Next Comission Should Prioritise EU Enlargement and Reform”