News of Europe | 4/2023
Dear Federalists friends,
Welcome to the fourth edition of "News of Europe", the UEF's news brief. This week's main issue: last week's General Affairs Council and EU summit conclusions.
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The opinions reflected in this brief are its author's (and the people quoted) only and do not reflect the position of the UEF. And now, your newsletter
The General Affairs Council, chaired by Sweden's rotating presidency, met last Tuesday in Luxembourg to discuss the war in Ukraine and the latest attempted coup in Russia, as well as migration and security and defence cooperation. On Ukraine, the main question was: should Europe use Russian frozen assets to rebuild Ukraine? And if yes, how to do it? The consensus, as reported by Politico Europe on Friday, is that "using Russia’s money may be legally difficult, not using it would be even more difficult politically."
The EU affairs ministers rejected the Parliament's proposal to democratise the 2024 European elections. The Parliamentary report on the reform of the EU electoral Law, tabled by UEF's Vice-President Domènec Ruiz Devesa, proposed to confirm the Spitzenkandidat system for 2024, in relation to transnational lists. The French-German support for the text was not enough to convince the other ministers.
Goodbye, Sweden. Hello, Spain. This was the last General Affairs Council chaired by Sweden, which gives the reigns to Spain for the next six months, starting this week. While it is too early to give an account of the outgoing Presidency, I would like to point out that the Spanish government (although facing uncertain elections in the coming weeks) will have much to deal with. The tragic accident off the coast of Greece that cost the lives of around 80 migrants showed the resurgence of migration issues. The war in Ukraine is escalating and shows no sign of getting closer to a conclusion. European citizens are still waiting for a proper follow-up of the Conference on the Future of Europe, and the many proposals of the European Parliament for EU reforms failed to receive their proper care from the Council. So yes, indeed—good luck Spain.
Also last week, EU leaders met in Brussels to discuss the war in Ukraine and the follow-up to give to the recent attempted coup by Wagner's boss Yevgeny Prigozhin. They agreed to give Ukraine "guarantees for security" after the war, possibly opening the country's accession to NATO.
But another item unexpectedly came back on the table. Poland's Mateusz Morawiecki and Hungary's Viktor Orbán denounced the agreement the EU ministers reached on 8 June over new migration rules. They both demand that the decision (previously adopted thanks to a Qualified Majority vote) be revised and agreed upon unanimously. As a reminder, the Council of the EU agree that Member States could refuse the relocation of migrants on their territory by contributing €22.000 per person to a new EU fund.
Speaking of NATO, the international military alliance will gather in Vilnius, Lithuania, on 11 and 12 July, with Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg to be reconducted to his position for four more years.
At the celebrations for the 70th anniversary of the European Parliament organised by the King of Belgium, President Roberta Metsola voiced her support for the transnational lists. "For me, the transnational lists … is never dead. Hope is eternal so I will hang onto that,” Politico Europe reported.
Is Scotland thinking about applying for an EU candidacy? Scotland’s First Minister Humza Yousaf visited Brussels last week. In an interview, Yousaf said, "I see it as hugely important to keep speaking to our partners and the European Commission about the importance that we place on being a European nation and continuing to have those European values.”
Finally, further readings. The Movimento Federalista Europeo issued a statement approved by its last Federal Committe about the reaction following the declarations made by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni (where she repeatedly emphasised that the criterion guiding the government in European policy was the defence of the national interest) during her briefing to the Italian Parliament on 28 June ahead of the European Council. You can read it here.
Thank you for reading. As always, tell us what you think of this newsletter here.
As I am taking holiday, you will exceptionally not receive your newsletter next Monday. We will meet back on 17 July.
Alexandre Météreau
on behalf of the UEF Secretariat