Bilans niemieckiej prezydencji w Unii Europejskiej w pierwszej połowie 2007 roku
An Assessment of the German Presidency of the European Union in the First Half of 2007

Summary/Abstract: In the first half of 2007 the Federal Republic of Germany held presidency of the European Communities
EU for the 12th time so it had all the necessary experience, excellently prepared civil servants and political potential of the biggest member state, which had long been perceived as the ‘‘engine’’ of European integration. This time the challenges that had to be faced differed from those in the past, while the expectations addressed to Berlin were enormous. The article is an attempt to assess the internal conditions, course and results of the German presidency of the EU in the first half of 2007 taking into account the opinions of the members of the FRG government and the comments of researchers, journalists and politicians from other European countries. The focus is on the coalition agreement and the program of the presidency as the starting point of German activity in the EU and relations on European issues between Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) and Frank-Walter Steinmeier (SPD) the minister of foreign affairs in her government. Berlin was extremely successful in discharging its tasks connected with the presidency and managed to overcome the crisis of leadership in Europe, opening the way to resumption of the interrupted reform of the Treaty and achieved a number of other ambitious goals in the specific policies of the EU.

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