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TAXPAYERS ASSOCIATION OF EUROPE

Success Criteria of the Former Stability Treaty Co-ordinator

Former stability treaty co-ordinator Hombach and his team have made a principle of using tax money thriftily for their own operational costs and in their political activities in the Balkans.

A lack of transparency and unclear goals made precise controls nearly impossible. Wasting and mistakes were frequent. Hence, the stability treaty only requested or even granted funding for very precise and well-defined projects. First, the urgent need for a project had to be justified. The project had to compete with other projects. A cross-border consensus needed to be found in southern Europe for that project. Giver and taker, experts and advisors worked together to verify the project. The co-ordination and embedding into a common strategy automatically resulted from the so-called „work tables“.

The strong link between project and funding raised strong motivations to continue with a project, it enabled real checks and verifications by means of schedules and deadlines and it created a public character, which on the one hand assessed the support given and on the other hand observed the actual implementation of that support.

The result of this type of project was that relatively low costs enabled large-scale political effects, public observation and at the same time a precise control of all parties involved.

Because all parties were involved in the definition, the implementation and the control of a project at an early state, many difficulties, that would have cost time, efficiency or money, were avoided.

The intention of the stability treaty to introduce strong conditions for the allocation of projects (conditionality principle) was generally accepted and led to the accomplishment of many political goals that were unthinkable before (free-trade area in the South East of Europe, anti-corruption initiatives, national security initiatives, freedom of the press, etc.).

This principle, „Do what you can and we will help where we can“ was especially appreciated when also the giver lived by it, accepting all consequences thereof.

For example: each country of South East Europe wanted to be the „energy country“, the supplier for the rest of the region. They all had their reasons to stress their resources. Precise analyses showed that there was hardly a lack of energy but there were problems with its efficient and ecological exploitation. They managed to reach an agreement that it would make more sense economically to build a network (pipe-laying) through the nations then to develop additional power plant capacities. The projects were steered in that direction and the necessary funding was allocated. The project also required cross-regional collaboration (networking in the good sense of the word). These examples show that the political necessity of the „Europeanization“ of Southern Europe can also be obtained and developed with relatively limited means. The principle that Europeanization implies the willingness and the capacity to work together with your neighbours was applied consequently throughout this regionalisation. Today, the collaboration among the countries of the area has become self-supporting in many areas.

These examples also show that large-scale political effects can be achieved with relatively few financial means when these are applied in a consistent way. The mobilisation of several donor institutions, partially competing with each other, was a prerequisite thereof. The use of the resources of international institutions, far beyond the usual collaboration relationships, generated means that had an extremely positive influence. The conscious integration of the Council of Europe, the OECD, the OSCE as well as the internationally experienced banks provided considerable conceptional input and saved costs at the same time. Out of legitimate self-interest, these institutions were happy to use the scope of activity that was offered to them, and they did so intensively.

Within the framework of the stability treaty, the slogan „Crisis Prevention equals Cost Prevention“ was proven effective and feasible by hundreds of examples.

For the first time and in collaboration with NATO, they managed to implement effective projects on the re-training of former officers of south European armies, to develop plans for the destruction of weapons as well as to initiate close collaboration on safety and security.

During a lunch at the conference on the Montenegro conflict, the former co-ordinator told the European Ministers of Finance: „Had I been sitting here wearing my uniform, I would have been so much more expensive. But when you do not immediately release 10 million for Montenegro, to show the people of that country that Europe is on their side and that they have a future and opportunities, you will have to deal with uniforms again, with whom you will then have to discuss about Montenegro“. That example shows that even thrifty ministers of finance need to be reminded frequently of the principle „crisis prevention equals cost prevention“.

In his function, the former stability treaty co-ordinator had to be the driving force as well as the minder. He had to do so openly, to start processes or to keep them moving. Hombach’s war against „bureaucracy and slowness“ has proven to be effective. It has created the awareness that the commission should be „ready to deliver“. His statement: „My Balkan is Brussels“ as well as „Even when God were the President of the EU commission, he would have problems with the bureaucracy“ met with irritation and protest yet at the same time, they created the awareness that the Balkans may not be removed from the international agenda.

As such, a natural community of interests was created between the politicians of the Balkans, who want to Europeanize their countries as well as to document the advantages for Europe of such a process without spending too much money. Thanks to this political alliance, the political actors in that region are no longer the „claimant“, they have become propagandists of gratitude for all recognizable support.

The stability treaty has made it extremely and unambiguously clear that public means can only be considered „stimulating money“. It polemized against national economies „on a drip“. During each trip in the region, the former co-ordinator stated: „I am not Santa Claus“. He only accepted self-help projects. All documented projects can be considered successful. The stability treaty has also shown that he did not want to put his label on these projects, he did not want to be honoured for someone else’s accomplishments. Often, the former stability treaty co-ordinator described his job as that of a conductor of an orchestra, who cannot play an instrument himself but who co-ordinates the music other plays and who gratefully honours the musicians during the applause of the audience.

The work on the stability treaty has shown there were many resources that could be quite helpful, also in an immaterial way.

In relation to the use of money by the administration of the former stability treaty co-ordinator, a very strict audit by independent auditors Ernst & Young lead to an unusual number of positive evaluations. So much the experts recommended to have the ST administrative team manage all EU special envoys, because they demonstrated exemplary use of means, administration as well as impeccable financial controls.

Still, former stability treaty co-ordinator Hombach wants to make clear that the old principle: „trust is good, control is better“ has proven to be very true. It applies to the work in the Balkans on the stability treaty as well as to the administrative activities. Massive external criticism as well as unjustified remarks at the beginning of his term of office led to the required sensibility and consistent detailed controls in financial matters.

Former special co-ordinator Bodo Hombach is very pleased with the European Taxpayers Association Award. A taxpayers association, that does not only identify itself with the battle against corruption and wasting but also leads towards a conceptional, efficient and politically effective use of public means is the ideal supplement for a political method, that must try even harder in the future to link limited public means and a consciously thrifty attitude to creative political concepts, provoking a maximum amount of own initiatives.

The former stability treaty co-ordinator always said: „Peace and stability are impossible without economic stimulation, yet economic stimulation is impossible without peace and stability.“ That was turned into a principle to act as an example when trying to give people in crisis areas hope and confidence, in order not to create a spiral of violence and counter-actions but to end it. From that point of view, it cannot be denied that the light house, representing the light at the end of the tunnel, was the hope of all south European countries eventually to be part of one big European family.

That hope created the will to be patient, to accept hardship but also indicated the direction for adjustment and change. During his activities, the former stability treaty co-ordinator learned that the „so-called myths of the Balkans“, leading to the suspicion that the Balkans are continuously involved in irrevocable or hardly recognizable conflicts and situations of violence, are simply not true. It was his analysis that the conflicts in the south of Europe are the same conflicts Europe struggled with in the past. Hence, the means to resolve conflicts and to establish durable peace are also European means. The principles of European integration or those of the OSCE process have been confirmed once again. To cultivate them has proven to be effective.

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