Welcome to Better Europe's weekly update on EU Affairs.   NEXT COMMISSION MANDATE COMES WITH A BIG IMPLEMENTATION QUESTION MARK Ahead of the next mandate, Euractiv invited five experts to talk about lessons to learn from the current action plans for the upcoming 5 years. Despite coming from different backgrounds (industry, Commission, Member State, and CSO), all experts spoke in unison when talking about the biggest lesson to learn, namely the need for a Just Transition with an emphasis on the social aspect. There is no discussion about the need to continue the Green Deal, with participants highlighting the need to preserve legal coherence and legal certainty for the investments that are needed. However, the Green Deal is not likely to continue in its current form, but will instead move…

Welcome to Better Europe's weekly update on EU Affairs. EU MINISTERS ENDORSE END OF THE ARTICLE 7 PROCEDURE AGAINST POLAND At the General Affairs Council this week, EU Ministers gave their nod of approval to end the Article 7 procedure against Poland. In 2017, the European Commission presented a reasoned proposal on a clear risk of serious breaches of the rule of law by Poland to the Council, thereby activating the relevant procedure under the EU Treaties. Despite its big, and dangerous sounding name, this Article 7(1) process is in fact a toothless tiger. It was used for the first time for Poland and Hungary, and only calls for a determination of a clear risk of a breach of the rule of law, one of the European values enshrined elsewhere…

Welcome to Better Europe's weekly update on EU Affairs. EUROGROUP MINISTERS ADOPT ROADMAP WITH STEPS TO DECIDE ON FUTURE OF CMU Eurogroup Finance Ministers this week presented their “first step towards delivery” of the future of the Capital Markets Union package, endorsing a one page high-level roadmap with six steps to be taken in the coming year. By focusing on the timing of key steps in the process, the statement tries to cover up the cracks in between Member States, with some calling for faster integration and the introduction of unified European-level supervision for the largest financial markets players, while others are pulling the emergency break. French President Emmanuel Macron and outgoing European Commissioner for Economy Paolo Gentiloni are clearly in the first group, using public statements to warn that…

Welcome to Better Europe's weekly update on EU Affairs. SIXTH PCI LIST ENTERS INTO FORCE, ACCELERATING THE HYDROGEN RUSH With the amended TEN-E Regulation in force, time has come for its baby: a new, sixth list of Projects of Common Interests (PCI). These projects enjoy a “streamlined” environmental impact assessment, accelerated permitting, and access to EU subsidies. The new list features many hydrogen projects, confirming the recent European rush towards this gas. While renewable hydrogen will play a crucial role in the energy transition, it is not a silver bullet, and there is a strong argument to avoid excessive use in buildings and focus on use of hydrogen in hard to decarbonise sectors instead. The fossil fuel industry missed this memo and jumped on the hype, which means a lot…

Welcome to Better Europe's weekly update on EU Affairs. URSULA 2024 SAYS OPEN TO DEAL WITH CONSERVATIVE ECR GROUP AT FIRST EU DEBATE Six weeks before the elections, EPP lead candidate and current Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was already forced to show her colours on potential cooperation with hard right conservative groups such as the ECR. At a first debate amongst eight “Spitzenkandidaten” in Maastricht on 30 April, she defended her legacy and launched her Ursula 2024 campaign. Pushed about the likeliness of her tying up with the ECR, she indicated being open to a deal with the group, depending “on how the competition of the Parliament is and who is in what group”. The ECR group is composed of Giorgia Meloni’s Fratelli d’Italia, Andrzej Duda’s Law and…