Welcome to Better Europe's weekly update on EU Affairs. WHAT HAPPENS IN STRASBOURG, STAYS IN STRASBOURG Many have tried to stop it, and all have failed. No, it's not the evil Omnibus we're talking about, but the monthly mandatory move of the Parliament to Strasbourg. For most MEPs, it doesn't really matter whether they travel from their constituency to Brussels or Strasbourg, even if the latter's airport is not so well connected and most politicians have a nice pied-à-terre in Brussels. But for the thousands of staff with a fixed reservation in one of the city's dozens depressing Ibis hotels, dropping the monthly trek would be quite a time and cost saver -- well over 100 million euros of taxpayer money every year. It is not that Parliament has not…

Welcome to Better Europe's weekly update on EU Affairs. DAMAGE OF OMNIBUS I FINALLY DOCUMENTED Remember the days of evidence-based policy-making? When the Commission's Better Regulation strategy was still being applied? Well, we're far away from the return of the impact assessment -- the Commission is planning to present a package revamping its rules on how to engage with stakeholders and how to estimate the impact of different policy options on 28 April. Potentially on the agenda: replace stakeholder consultation by implementation 'dialogues' to understand corporate compliance concerns, replace public consultations with an intimate 'reality check' session with a few friends in the Commission's headquarters, and followed by a quick 48-hour internal inter-service consultation. The manual will likely echo the process of the EU's deregulated corporate sustainability reporting and responsibility…

Welcome to Better Europe's weekly update on EU Affairs. ECB CLIMATE TSAR WARNS FOR FOSSIL FUEL DEPENDENCE Frank Elderson, the green central banker who joined the ECB’s Executive Board back in 2021, is stepping up his messaging on the price stability risk of fossil fuel dependence. We already knew we were not saving the planet just for the planet, but for the humans living on it. But now the framing is even further away from noble intentions to green our society: in fact, it’s all about saving our economy, as fossil fuel is a geopolitical risk before anything else. Climate campaigners will say there were right all along, but the framing of climate problems in climate terms has been a hard sell over the last years. Elderson suggests that the…

Welcome to Better Europe's weekly update on EU Affairs. RULE OF LAW: SHRINKING SPACE, SHRINKING NGOS? "The rule of law is not negotiable -- it is the foundation of our European way of life" Ursula von der Leyen promised the Parliament when asking for a second mandate in 2024. Then why does a report from the Civil Liberties Union for Europe classify eleven Member States as 'Dismantlers' or 'Sliders' when it comes to the erosion of the rule of law? Only a few countries show progress on four indicators: the justice system, anti-corruption, media freedom and checks and balances. The group warns that steps to undermine the rule of law in the United States show how fast systems can be dismantled, and double standards and fragility have been exposed across…

Welcome to Better Europe's weekly update on EU Affairs. FIRST EU OWN GOAL AHEAD OF U.S. WORLD CUP After more than half a year of back and forths, MEPs finally caved in and approved the Agreement on Reciprocal, Fair, and Balanced Trade with the U.S., better known under the name of Trump's Turnberry golf resort in Scotland where it was announced last summer. Replacing the failed TTIP deal, the Turnberry agreement is no less controversial as it included explicit commitments from the EU to water down its sustainability reporting rules and help American companies exporting to Europe through 'flexibilities' on the EU's deforestation and carbon border tax legislation. Between last week's trade committee vote last week and this week's plenary vote, MEPs were promised that the rules would be suspended…

Welcome to Better Europe's weekly update on EU Affairs. EU SUMMIT: SHOW US THE MONEY We said it last week and even Politico agreed: Trump stole the Summit. Just read this op-ed by Enrico Letta, the eloquent social-democrat former Prime Minister of Italy now hiding in academics and at the prestigious Jacques Delors think tank. His brilliant report, Much More Than a Market, is long forgotten, as EU leaders have selectively interpreted the recommendations he and his colleague Mario Draghi made two years ago. Yes, we have a 28th regime proposal, captured by the U.S. venture capital-backed "EU-INC" campaign and published in the nick of time a day ahead of the EU Summit. In classic Brussels strategic thinking, it could fly as no one is really happy with it: it…

Welcome to Better Europe's weekly update on EU Affairs. TRUMP SIDELINES DRAGHI AT EU SUMMIT Disruption in the agenda of next week’s European Summit. EU leaders were initially meant to focus on the roadmap to implement the competitiveness recommendations discussed with Draghi and Letta at the Alden-Biesen castle in February, and hear back from the Commission on how they will advance the Savings and Investment Union strategy. But the economic fallout from Donald Trump’s military campaign in Iran has reshuffled priorities, pushing other files down the agenda. During a discussion among ambassadors on Wednesday, several participants stressed the need to maintain momentum on the competitiveness agenda. Yet the immediate focus has shifted to energy prices and broader economic repercussions. Ukraine could also return as an urgent topic for leaders with…

Welcome to Better Europe's weekly update on EU Affairs. MADE IN EUROPE... OR MADE WITH EUROPE? Earlier this week, the debate over Europe’s economic sovereignty resurfaced in Brussels. The Commission was preparing its long-awaited (or should we say, long-delayed) Industrial Accelerator Act, expected to introduce a form of “European preference” in strategic sectors. But even before its publication, rumour had it that the slogan had already evolved. What started as “Made in Europe” quietly became “Made with Europe”, reflecting internal divisions within the Commission over how far Brussels should go on economic protection. Countries with trade agreements with the EU would remain in the game, provided reciprocity is respected. By Wednesday, the verdict was in. Commission Executive VP Stéphane Séjourné presented what he called a “doctrinal shift” in EU industrial…

Welcome to Better Europe's weekly update on EU Affairs. MADE IN EUROPE NOW REALLY COMING NEXT WEEK The Commission’s “Made in Europe” moment is starting to look a little too messy. The Industrial Accelerator Act, meant to entrench a European preference in sectors like tech and green, was delayed once again (from January!) and is now expected next week, on 4 March. Officially, due to “ongoing discussions”. In reality, the College seems split on how far the European preference should go. For France, set to benefit most due to its control over key European industries, the sky is the limit. Germany however, is showing resistance, and pressure is not only coming from inside the Justus Lipsius building. Washington warned that Made in Europe would contradict the spirit of the July…