Donald Tusk in the European Parliament Courtesy of flickr/European Parliament

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk summed up the six-month-long Polish presidency of the European Council in a speech to the European Parliament on Wednesday, in which he said that “Europe is standing at a crossroads. ... Either we go the way of cooperation or we go the way of national egoism, pursuing safety each on our own and treating the union as a burden.”

Mr Tusk said that the Polish presidency had come during a time of economic, political, and systemic crisis as well as during a “crisis of trust.” Listing Poland's successes, the PM mentioned agreement to the so-called “six-pack” measures aimed to increase fiscal discipline among EU member states, progress in the Eastern Partnership and the signing of an accession agreement between the EU and Croatia.

The prime minister admitted that he could not honestly say Europe was more united now than it was six months ago or that the biggest crisis the EU had ever seen had been dealt with.

“The crisis is feeding on the threat of a dissolution of the union,” said Mr Tusk, adding that he couldn't understand those who were expressing satisfaction that EU member states were growing further apart from each other.

The Polish presidency started on July 1, 2011 and will officially end when Denmark takes over the role on January 1, 2012.