On November 16, 2020, the governments of Poland and Hungary vetoed the adoption of the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2021 - 2027 draft, and the proposed Decision on Own Resources, after verifying the existence of a sufficient majority in the Council to approve the Regulation on the conditionality of the Rule of Law in the framework of access to European funding.
“It is absolutely unacceptable to put the Union’s long-term budget and the Recovery Plan at risk by two EU governments that do not believe in European principles. Any move that aims at preventing the existence of a conditionality on the Rule of Law linked to the access to structural funds should not be rewarded. The protection of the Union’s fundamental values cannot be traded!”
Ahead of the European Council on December 10 and 11, the Union of European Federalists (UEF) calls on the Hungarian and Polish governments to withdraw their veto. It is imperative to launch a global package of 1.8 billion euros, of which Poland and Hungary will also be great beneficiaries, provided that their governments respect the fundamental values of the Union.
Otherwise, UEF urges the Council to launch the Recovery Plan, by adopting by a Qualified Majority Vote the “Next Generation EU” Regulation, regarding the issuance of debt worth 750,000 million euros. This proposal is based on article 122 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), and with the support, if needed, of complementary national guarantees.
The other related regulations set to channel the Recovery fund, particularly the Regulation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility, as well as the budget corresponding to the year 2021, could also be adopted by QMV in Council. This could be done without prejudice to the extension of the current MFF, and in full respect of article 310.4 of the TFEU.
Alternatively, UEF proposes that the European Council and European Commission consider the launch of an enhanced cooperation under article 326 TFEU, given that full involvement of the European Parliament can be guaranteed.
“This situation is but the umpteenth example of the practical and democratic difficulties posed by the unanimity mechanism when making fundamental decisions about the multi- year budget and its revenues, fiscal harmonization, and foreign policy, among other critical policy areas, within the Council. It is essential to address, in a federal fashion, the reform of the Lisbon Treaty in the framework of the future Conference on the Future of Europe”, UEF President Sandro Gozi concludes.
“The Spinelli Group, the network of federalist and pro-reform Members of the European Parliament, wishes to express its profound sadness for the loss of Valéry Giscard d’Estaing and to extend its heartfelt condolences to the family of the former President of the French Republic and to the French people.
Giscard d’Estaing was an innovator and a true pro-European champion. His commitment and devotion to the creation of a more democratic Europe, especially as the President of the European Convention that drafted the project for a European Constitution in 2001-2003, shall forever be remembered and taken as an example for the future reform of the European Union."
THE RULE OF LAW IS NON-NEGOTIABLE AND TREATY CHANGE IS NEEDED TO DO AWAY WITH UNANIMITY RULES IN THE EU
The Spinelli Group, the network of the federalist and pro-reform members of the European Parliament, and the Union of the European Federalist (UEF), reacting to the joint statement of 26th November 2020 by Prime Ministers of Poland and Hungary, Mateusz Morawiecki and Viktor Orbán, have decided to issue a joint statement on the new EU Rule of Law mechanism and the MFF/Next Generation EU package deal.
“We stand firmly behind the deal agreed by the co-legislators, the European Parliament and the Council, on 10 November 2020. Parliament and Council are the budgetary authorities of the EU, not the European Council” declared Brando Benifei, President of the Spinelli Group and Sandro Gozi, UEF President.
“We condemn the behaviour of the Polish and Hungarian governments which are threatening to veto the Multiannual Financial Framework and block the launch of the Recovery Plan for Europe in the midst of the worse health and economic crisis in the EU’s history. COVID-19 has caused more than 300 thousand deaths in the EU and a GDP contraction of approximately 8 percentage points with enormous job losses, business closures and a dramatic worsening of social conditions across the EU”, they continue.
“We recall that the Rule of Law is a non-negotiable, fundamental value of the EU. We reject the interpretation by the Prime Ministers of Poland and Hungary that the proposed mechanism on the Rule of Law would circumvent the Treaties. It not only an absurd contradiction in terms, but also a legally inconsistent argument."
“We also wish to propose a two-track process to overcome the deadlock: first, to immediately approve the MFF, the Recovery and Resilience Facility and the Rule of Law Mechanism, and second, to immediately start the Conference on the Future of Europe. This would allow us to prepare proposals on how to end unanimity rules on the EU’s budget decisions."
“Lastly, we also call to take the appropriate procedures to negotiate the necessary modifications to the Treaties. This should be initiated with the launch of a Convention following the outcome of the Conference."
The simple fact is: If you ask to join a club, you respect the rules that all members have given themselves. If you don't like those rules, either you leave the club, or you try to change them with the support of the majority of the members.
Among the rules that the European Union has set itself since its inception is respect for fundamental rights, democratic freedoms, independence of information and the judiciary, and the fight against corruption.
Poland and Hungary have joined the EU club, claiming mainly economic benefits of membership, but they do no longer want to comply with the rules laid down in Article 2 of the Treaty.
In practice, they pretend to be European when it comes to receiving European billions of euros, and they are nationalists when it comes to respecting the rules and values they signed. This is too easy.
This inadmissible position also finds the support of sovereignsts in the rest of Europe, starting with Italy: at best, useful idiots of Orbán or PiS, who go against the interests of our country. Italian first, they say! Their only and true objective, often even declared, is to destroy the European Union. Salvini exalts Orbán, Tajani's European ally, while Orbán goes against Italy on the Recovery plan and immigration; Meloni chairs the European party with the Poles of the PiS who deny women the right to choose abortion.
They will not prevail. In a recent survey 77% of European citizens said they are in favour of denying EU funds to those who violate rule of law. The majority: also in Italy, Poland and Hungary. As always, citizens are much more sensitive to the respect for freedoms than various governments that remain silent and that justify and defend the serious violations perpetrated by some governments allied to them.
The European Union was created to guarantee to our peoples freedom, peace and democracy. Those who do not respect and recognise all of this are out of history and lead themselves out of Europe.
All of this is a bluff: Poles, Hungarians and their nationalist allies were there. And if they do not give in, we will go ahead with governments and peoples who want to protect rights and democracy.
This Article was firstly published on HuffPost Italia, 19 November 2020, with the title "II grande bluff di Ungheria e Polonia" (written by Sandro Gozi).
The Union of European Federalists (UEF) calls on the European Commission to take a step forward by requesting for a Health Union on the basis of Art. 168.5 TFEU in its next proposal for a regulation on severe cross-border health threats:
“Since the beginning of this unprecedented pandemic crisis, Europe has become its global epicentre. The second wave of the COVID-19 is ferociously sweeping the continent, while at the same time drastically reshaping the lives of our European citizens and our European way of life. It is time to act together, with common guidelines and a single regulation in the fight against the virus, to avoid discrepancies that weaken our capacity of reaction”, UEF President and Member of the European Parliament Sandro GOZI says.
"We federalists have been convening, with particular emphasis in these last months, on the urgency to launch a Health Union, necessary to strengthen the mandate of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). Art. 168. 5 TFEU provides the legal framework to establish it, on the basis of the principle of subsidiarity, which means that each problem must be tackled at the level where it can be better solved. Since pandemics know no borders, the key to a lasting solution lies with the Health Union as part of a stronger social and political integration at European level”, continues GOZI.
“And the truth is that we are not the only ones who believe this. The Health Union was presented as a key reform by the Commission's President Ursula von der Leyen in her State of the Union Speech in September 2020”, emphasizes GOZI.
President von der Leyen said: “For me, it is crystal clear - we need to build a stronger European Health Union. And to start making this a reality, we must now draw the first lessons from the health crisis”.
UEF reiterates the call on the European institutions to agree on an interinstitutional declaration on the Conference on the Future of Europe.
“It is therefore we demand and expect to see the European Commission's lead on this urgent matter to advance health guarantees for European citizens. In this sense, we call again on the German Presidency of the Council to call for the Conference on the Future of Europe to be launched as soon as possible, to involve citizens in the debate on how to build a stronger European Union”, GOZI concludes.
Background information
The Federal Committee of UEF adopted on the 4th of July its resolution “Europe, think the unthinkable!”, in which UEF calls for the launch of a Health Union, among other important and urgent proposals.
Earlier in spring, UEF together with The Spinelli Group called on the European institutions and the national governments to adopt a series of urgent measures.
The Union of European Federalists (UEF) welcomes the positive outcome of the Multiannual Financial Framework's political agreement for 2021-2027 and new Own Resources.
Following ten weeks of intensive talks, the Parliament's budget negotiators' decision with the Presidency of the Council regarding the confirmation for the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF 2021-2027), represents a significant win for Europe and its citizens:
"Today, Europe has historically won with this agreement. After weeks of negotiations, we finally have a political compromise that can live up to the European citizens' expectations and challenges our current times,” says GOZI. “Thanks to the European Parliament’s commitment, this package is bigger than the one presented by national governments in the summer; for that, I warmly congratulate the EP budget negotiators to make possible this historic step for a federal Europe together with the Council Presidency,” continues GOZI.
“Ambitious ideas on common debt and new own resources to get out of the crisis, solidarity, and digital and ecological transformation are exactly what we as federalists have been convening,” states UEF President and Member of the European Parliament Sandro GOZI. "Recalling on new resources, we as federalists are very pleased to see that the agreement ensures and increases the budget allocated to the major top-ups of EU flagship programes like Horizon, Erasmus+ which were about to pay the price for the health crisis we are currently facing, jeopardizing our current and future generations of Europeans,” stresses GOZI. “Moreover, we have a clear timetable for the introduction of fiscal justice and ecological transition. UEF will be closely following and advocating to make sure that the Commission and the Council will fully respect the calendar to implement them."
“The next clear step forward to consolidate this path is the need to give the European Parliament the power to share decisions on own resources. UEF fully backs the European Parliament’s legislative resolution that implies a Treaty reform on this regard,” says GOZI. “We reiterate our call on the German Presidency of the Council to launch the Conference on the Future of Europe with celerity, to involve citizens and the civil society in the debate on how to build a stronger European Union”, concludes GOZI.
The UEF urges the European Parliament, as a matter of necessity and urgency, to fight for genuine European own resources that are designed, collected, and managed at the European level. An urgent need is even more pressing in the event of establishing the Recovery Fund in the form proposed by the Commission – thus launching the debate for the creation of an autonomous fiscal capacity of the EU.
The board of the Spinelli Group, network of federalist and pro-reform Members of the European Parliament, gathered on Wednesday 21 October, in videoconference, to set up its programme of activities until the end of the Parliamentary mandate. The meeting was the opportunity to discuss recent EU developments, including democracy, the negotiations on the Multiannual Financial Framework, Next Generation EU, the system of own resources, the Rule of Law mechanism, the Electoral Law and transnational lists, as well as the Conference on the Future of Europe, within which the Group aims to play a central role and lead the discussions in the European Parliament, coordinating with the like-minded elected Members in national parliaments and at local level.
The Spinellist MEPs have agreed to assign the Presidency of the Group to a representative of the main political Groups in the EP in a rotating system of a period of 9 months. The S&D Group will take the Chair for the first phase, formally starting on November 2nd. Brando Benifei (IT) was endorsed by the colleagues to take the place of former liberal MEP and EPC Visiting Fellow, Andrew Duff, as Chair of the Spinelli Group. Members have also agreed to entrust the Secretariat of the Union of European Federalists (UEF) with organisational and logistical support, considering to also enlarge the internal structure to support the many projects to be pursued for next years.
The following MEPs that are part of the board of the Spinelli Group were present at the meeting: Danuta Huebner, Sven Simon, Radek Sikorsi (EPP); Gaby Bischoff, Domènec Ruiz Devesa, Brando Benifei (S&D); Guy Verhofstadt, Sandro Gozi, (Renew); Sven Giegold, Daniel Freund, Damian Boeselager (Greens/EFA); Dimitris Papadimoulis, Helmut Scholz (GUE). Former Chair Andrew Duff also attended.
THE SPINELLI GROUP AND THE UNION OF EUROPEAN FEDERALISTS LAUNCH A JOINT STATEMENT ON THE STATE OF THE UNION AND NEXT GENERATION EU 2020
The Spinelli Group and UEF welcome the “more than ever before” ambitious State of the Union speech on 16 September 2020 by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s. The speech took place 500 days after the European elections and in the midst of the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Together with the adoption of the “Hamiltonian” recovery instrument Next Generation EU by the European Council, an economic stimulus of € 750 billion on top of the MFF for 2021-2027 that we strongly believe is a clear step towards a Federal Europe, we would like to draw attention to a number of worthy proposals stated by President von der Leyen during this year’s Debate on the State of the Union. We would also like to highlight that many of them had already been proposed by The Spinelli Group:
- The establishment of a European Health Union
- The transformation of the European economy through the recovery plan to meet climate objectives
- The adoption of a European Directive on fair minimum wages
- Aiming at an increased emissions reduction target for 2030 to at least 60%, instead of 40% as planned.
- The strengthening of the European cultural dimension through the creation of a new European Bauhaus.
- The need for the completion of a New Pact on Migration in 2021 along with a Strategy on the future of Schengen evaluation mechanism as well as concrete proposals aimed at creating safe and legal channels for migrants.
- Boosting initiatives against racism, “LGBT-free zones” and anti-Semitism
- The activation of a qualified majority in the Council, at least, for the adoption of common rules on sanctions for Human Rights violations (Navalny Act)
- The introduction of new guidelines for the strengthening of the Union’s multilateral system, showing firmness towards Russia and a sustainable solution with Turkey
“Whereas these proposals are of the utmost importance for the democratic life and values of our Union, they have to be implemented in time to be properly called reforms which push towards a federal Europe”, says MEP Sandro Gozi, President of Union of European Federalists (UEF) and member of The Spinelli Group “The EU needs a stronger 2021-2027 MFF supporting strategic EU Programmes and must launch the Conference on the Future of Europe as soon as possible”, continues Gozi. “In addition, among other things, NextGenerationEU needs to be approved with a legally binding calendar for the introduction of new own resources.”
“Von der Leyen's speech conveyed the need to increase Europe's unity of action. The President's message was clear: Together we are stronger. The anti-crisis response should be an opportunity to boosting the EU’s ecological and digital transitions, but also to complete the nascent financial Union with a stronger political Union. This can only be done through the reflection and debate on treaty changes, that can finally lead to the construction of a federal Europe”, says MEP Doménec Ruiz Devesa, member of The Spinelli Group and UEF.
“Europe cannot afford to waste any more time. Any time missed jeopardizes our European project. Imminent problems needs common European solutions, discussed in an open and constructive way in a new and innovative exchange with EU citizens: we must start the Conference on the Future of Europe. We call on the German Presidency of the Council to ensure that the Conference is launched this autumn with an interinstitutional declaration in autumn 2020”, concludes Gozi.
The Joint Statement can be downloaded here.
Below the PDF version of this article.
Since the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Libyan GNA and Turkey, Ankara has increased its provocative moves in the Eastern Mediterranean. It has sent drilling ships in Greek and Cypriot waters, often accompanied by navy vessels. Such provocations to two European Member States have been rightly condemned across the EU but few substantive actions have been taken at an EU level. Furthermore, despite the efforts of Member States such as France or Germany, Turkey has not given up its aggressive stance in the Mediterranean. Turkish behavior in the Eastern Mediterranean does not only constitute a challenge for Greece and Cyprus but has wider ramifications over a range of different issues and has implications for the Union as a whole. As such, the current tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean urgently requires a coordinated EU response.
Firstly, the European Commission has presented a detailed legal analysis on issues linked to the conflict, which are of exclusive EU competence and covered by EU law in the area of common fishery policy. As a reminder, what is challenged herein are the rights given to islands under UNCLOS, a UN Convention that the EU has signed and ratified as a full party.
Secondly, the Council should at least define a well-balanced, strong common response that goes beyond a strongly worded statement. As such initiatives have not only proven unsuccessful in persuading Turkey in the past but have angered it further. It is important therefore, to have a coordinated response, which will allow EU Council Members to trust each other, communicate, and share relevant information between them.
Thirdly, the European Parliament should call for a wider evaluation of the EU relations with Turkey concerning its candidacy to the Union: the respect of human rights, the rules of law and values, the management of the migration flow transiting Turkey towards Europe and the reworking of economic ties between the two sides. This evaluation, needs to take into account the drift of Erdoğan’s Turkey, away from meeting the minimum required to be considered an EU candidate country, a status it still possesses.
Finally, it is necessary to recall that this situation can and should be solved through existing international law. Laws, as well as dispute-settlement mechanisms, exist for these sorts of matters and their use need to be promoted. If the European Union is able to coordinate a cohesive and effective response it will be possible to convince Turkey to settle this matter in court, as this remains the only peaceful and rightful conclusion to the problem.
The Conference on the Future of Europe is the right framework to start discussing these topics and set the permanent common structures needed for a strong European sovereignty.
EDITOR’S NOTE:
The Union of European Federalists (UEF) is a pan-European, non-governmental political organisation dedicated to the promotion of European political unity. For more than 70 years UEF has been a leading voice in the promotion of European unity and an early campaigner for key milestones in the development of the European Communities and then the European Union. With 25 national sections and over 400 local groups across Europe, UEF promotes a federal Europe among citizens and political representatives at all levels of government.
PRESS CONTACT
Alejandra O. Almarcha
alejandra.almarcha@federalists.eu