Europe Day 2014: the European Union looks back at a successful period of peace, cooperation and development

Joint article of Malena Mard, EU Ambassador to Azerbaijan, Michal Labenda, Polish Ambassador to Azerbaijan, Vitezslav Pivonka, Czech Ambassador to Azerbaijan and Šarune Kubiliute, Charge d'Affaires of the Lithuanian Embassy for Europe Day, 9 May 2014

Europe Day – the anniversary of the Schuman Declaration- is the occasion to celebrate how in the European Union we have overcome age old differences to shape a common future.  On 9 May 1950 Robert Schuman called for unification of Europe to make war on the continent impossible and spread peace and prosperity globally.

Over the past years the EU has become a truly global player, able to promote its values and interests around the world.  The EU also has an important role to play in bringing together partners around the world to achieve lasting peace and stability. The EU leads the talks between the EU 3+3 (Germany, France and the United Kingdom as well as U.S., China and Russia) with Iran, which  resulted in an interim agreement on Iran's nuclear programme last November - a crucial step towards making this world a safer and more secure place.

Today we see that the EU has successfully managed to overcome the worst of the financial and debt crisis. This has become possible through solidarity between member states but also commitment to implement institutional and policy reforms. At the same time, democracy is a constant work in progress; we share a responsibility to safeguard and nurture it.

Azerbaijan has become an important partner for the EU in recent years and we have expanded our cooperation accordingly. The Partnership and Cooperation Agreement which entered into force in 1999 provides the basis for our bilateral relations. The EU also offers bilateral and regional cooperation in the format of the European Neighbourhood Policy and the Eastern Partnership.

The last Eastern Partnership summit of November 2013 took place in Vilnius with the participation of the Azerbaijani President. It paved the way for the signing of Association Agreements with Georgia and Moldova and Visa Facilitation and Readmission Agreement with Azerbaijan that will make contacts between our countries much easier in the future.

2014 is a special year for the EU. Ten years ago ten new members joined our Union. The 2004 enlargement was a crucial step towards overcoming decades of division on our continent. Since then three more new members have joined our club; a testament to the continuing attraction of closer ties to the EU.

We believe that our experience of joining the EU can give Azerbaijani readers an interesting perspective from some of those member states, who only 3 decades ago found themselves on the same side of the iron curtain as Azerbaijan.

For Poland its accession to the EU was a logical consequence of the fact that the new members have been sharing the same values and the same vision of development for societies. It demanded an enormous effort of the whole nation to implement the so called "acquis communautaire", the accumulated legislation, legal acts, and court decisions which constitute the body of EU law. In retrospect these efforts were well worth it. Today Poland, like all members that join our club, is no longer subject to the decision making process but a truly equal member.

The road which Poland has travelled in the last 25 years from the accession process to EU membership can be illustrated by two comparisons. First: in 1991 Poland's GDP per capita was 1,500 USD; in 2013 – more than 21,000 USD. In 1991 the country was still recovering from 45 years of Soviet domination. By 2007 Poland had become the sixth largest economy of the European Union;  as an active EU member, together with Sweden, it initiated major Eastern policy project of EU – the Eastern Partnership.

The Czech experience of membership has also been excellent. With the help of the EU more than 53,000 projects were realized. Since joining the EU a decade ago, 75,000 new jobs were created, 1,800 kilometres of roads and 300 kilometres of railroads were built, and 186 historic and cultural relics were renovated.

Membership helped to intensify bilateral relations with the other EU member states and to deepen mutual understanding, exchanges, inflow of new ideas, languages and customs as well as cultural enrichment and greater diversity of our society. Our country's administration, public awareness, and economy have benefitted immensely as a result.

For Lithuania the decision to join the EU has been crucial. After 10 years of membership Lithuanian citizens see great positive changes and benefits – economic, political and cultural. They are benefiting from the freedom of movement and enjoy the opportunity to travel, work and study in any EU country. More than 20 thousands Lithuanian students studied abroad thanks to the European exchange student program “Erasmus”.

European financial aid helped to restore cultural and historical objects, renovate houses, roads and infrastructure. To ensure that future generations continue to benefit from accession, it has also been used to acquire modern teaching materials and computers at schools and universities.  Living standards and exports have tripled. This is thanks to being part of the EU internal market that represents half a billion consumers and opened the door to Lithuanian entrepreneurs. In the energy field the EU supports Lithuania’s projects – electricity connection lines with Sweden and Poland that ensure energy independence of the country.

Membership in EU also gave Lithuania new political channels for influence. Lithuanian members of the European Parliament are representing the interests of Lithuanians in European institutions. Half a year ago Lithuania assumed the Presidency of European Union and took part in the main decisions making for the future of Europe.  Our experience from that period is that standing together with the other member states is what makes the European Union go forward.

These are just some examples of the great benefits of EU membership.  We believe that Europe Day is an opportunity for all of us to commemorate our achievements, but also to look ahead at how we can shape our European future together with our partners in order to promote peace and prosperity at home and in the world.