EU-Digest Special Report: EUROPEAN POLITICIANS WHO MADE AN IMPACT IN 2006 - By Rick Morren

EU-DIGEST SPECIAL REPORT

EU-Digest Special REPORT: EUROPEAN POLITICIANS WHO MADE AN IMPACT IN 2006 - By Rick Morren

Matti Vanhanen - PM of Finland

As a specialist on the European Union he was a member of the European Union Constitutional Convention. There he criticized the president of the convention Giscard d'Estaing as authoritarian. Vanhanen is unenthusiastic about the progress of European co-operation and a strong proponent of a strong European Union. Vanhanen resigned from the Constitutional Convention in 2003 when he became Minister of Defense in the cabinet of Prime Minister Anneli Jäätteenmäki. After Jäätteenmäki's resignation, Vanhanen was elected Prime Minister. As a politician, Vanhanen is considered to be part of the liberal wing of the old agrarian Central Party, along with the two other Party ministers from Uusimaa region. His government did cut top income tax rate from 35.5% to 33.5% in 2005 and 32.5% in 2006 along with corporate tax rate to 26% (former 29%) and capital gains to 28%. Vanhanen has said he is willing to continue tax cuts. He also showed excellent leadership and diplomatic qualities while his country held the EU presidency from June through December 2006. His progressive and independent way of thinking about the place the EU should occupy in the Atlantic Alliance could eventually set the tone for the future relations between the EU and the USA.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan - PM of Turkey

Mr Erdogan is an intense and charismatic man and reputed to have a fierce temper. He is probably also the most reform-minded Turkish prime minister since Turgut Ozal in the 1980s. Yet his inspiration is no longer the EU. At first he had hoped that joining the EU would allow Turkey to widen the space for religious observance. But diplomats say he failed to appreciate the extent to which these issues also divide European countries. It was an early lesson in the limits of Europe's attractions for Mr Erdogan and for the emerging middle class of socially and religiously conservative Turks who form the core of his party's support base.Indications are Mr Erdogan will run for president when the post becomes vacant in May. In Turkey, which is 98 per cent Muslim, the presidency is considered one of two ultimate bastions of secularism, next to the armed forces. Mr. Erdogan's religious background and political viewpoints may count against him, but if he succeeds and his party gets to control both the Presidency and the Parliament, it could change the basic political structure of the Turkish Republic as we know it today and impact Europe as a whole. EU leaders who have treated Turkey with a populist rhetoric seem to be unable to comprehend the seriousness of this looming crises. The forces in Turkey who want to see a European-style Turkish democracy and market economy cannot survive if the EU does not support them, and pushes Turkey into the Muslim world and away from Europe. A disillusioned Mr. Erdogan could possibly become a key player in this process.

John Fredrik Reinfeldt - PM of Sweden

Fredrik Reinfeldt, leader of the center-right coalition that won Swedish parliamentary elections this year, and became the country's PM once wrote a book criticizing the country's vaunted cradle-to-grave welfare state. Reinfeldt called for fine-tuning the system with small, pro-business adjustments rather than dismantling it altogether. At the age of 41, Reinfeldt is the third youngest person to become Prime Minister of Sweden.Under Reinfeldt's leadership, the Moderate Party has adjusted its position in the political spectrum, moving towards the centre. To reflect these changes, the party's unofficial name was altered to the "the new Moderates", in order to emphasize the break with the past. The Moderate Party also calls itself "Sweden's new workers' party". Mr. Reinfeldt has been quoted as saying that any society that can't provide for the people living there will see people moving out. Mr. Reinfeldt is also a strong proponent of the EU's enlargement program and believes its essential for Turkey become a member of the Union. In his opinion a lot of European countries are having the wrong discussion by closing down their economies to immigrants and by keeping people out? Demographically,it is very clear that Europe will need immigrants to survive. We can expect the innovative Mr. Reinfeldt to become more vocal in EU Commission discussions during the coming years.