Welcome to Better Europe’s weekly update on EU Affairs.
THE GREAT EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT USA TOUR
Brussels seemed deserted this week, as the European schools enjoyed one of the hottest May holidays and MEPs left for their ‘external Parliamentary activities’ week, or ‘green week’ after its colour on the EP’s famous institutional calendar. While for most MEPs this kind of week is better known as a holiday week in their constituency, Parliament’s committee delegations racked up frequent flier miles to visit exotic destinations such as Canada (Economics), South Africa (Foreign Affairs) and Portugal (Fisheries). Interestingly, the most popular work destination this week was clearly the U.S., with four Parliament committees crossing the pond: the Public Health Committee met with US Congress to discuss medicines and innovative treatments, the Industry Committee went to Texas to discuss energy, space and technology cooperation, the Transport Committee had to “promote the transatlantic dialogue on transport” in D.C., and Legal Affairs Committee MEPs met peers and businesses to discuss digital regulation and AI. But the most visible visit was Roberta Metsola’s — the Parliament’s President gave a speech at Stanford Uni and met with U.S. tech CEOs including Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and Apple’s Tim Cook. With the EU-U.S. trade deal on the books since last week, perhaps the flurry of meetings reflects a desire to normalise relations during a brief period of calm, ahead of the U.S. midterm elections. Or, with Washington temporarily in listening mode and in a good spirit ahead of the World Cup and the “Freedom 250” celebrations, MEPs might have simply realised that a bit of parliamentary diplomacy could help to make the transatlantic relationship a bit less transactional.
EU ENLARGEMENT: MERZ HAS A PLAN FOR EVERYONE
For nearly two decades, the European Union has left enlargement negotiations on the back burner. Since the big bang enlargement from 15 to 25 in 2004, only three countries have joined in 2007 (Bulgaria and Romania) and in 2013 (Croatia), while the UK left in 2020. It’s not that the ten* candidate members are not eager to negotiate, but the political appetite for enlargement was largely absent, with memories of the “Polish plumber” fresh in politician’s minds and the lack of a geopolitical need to pull neighbouring countries in the EU’s influence sphere. The EU will soon beat its own record of 15 years without enlargement. When Ukraine was added to the list of applicants two years ago, others started to wonder when it would be their turn, especially as some had been negotiating well over a decade already. Montenegro now aims to accede in 2028, and Albania in 2030, a target that looks increasingly feasible as Albania’s eighth accession conference took place this week in Brussels. But it’s not the Western Balkan Six themselves that are really accelerating accession — it is German Chancellor Merz who poured cold water on Ukraine’s plans to complete negotiations in next year, promoting instead immediate integration in the EU as an “Associate Member State”, with a non-voting Associate Commissioner and MEPs. Ukraine sees the special treatment as a poisoned gift and prefers full membership now that Hungary’s potential veto is out of the way, with the Cyprus Presidency planning to formally start accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova on 16 June. Iceland, not to be confused with Greenland, meanwhile is preparing a referendum on EU membership on 29 August. It’s planning? Accession in 2028. Never waste a good crisis.
NOW IT’S TIME FOR CONSUMERS TO RIDE THE OMNIBUS
So far, it’s businesses that have benefited from the ten Omnibus initiatives taken by the European Commission. Or, at least that’s what the EU institutions and business associations believe. Even if some of the predicted administrative burden savings turned out to be extremely limited, it is time to take the admin burden agenda to citizens. Because citizens also suffer from admin burden, when they deal with cross-border administrative procedures, want to study in another Member State, and when they use digital services and financial services from another country. The goal? To “deliver tangible improvements to citizens’ daily lives, providing an opportunity for targeted amendments to existing legislation to cut red tape, provide clarity on access to relevant EU funding programmes and make rules simpler in areas under the competence of the EU“. The plan is to deliver the package before the end of the year, and you have three weeks left to respond. With only 30 citizens responding so far, we’re happy to help the Commission and promote the initiative. Many responses expose the underlying deregulation agenda and call for strong consumer protection measures to avoid a race to the bottom. This not in line with the Omnibus mindset, so please help the Commission and submit a few ideas of how harmonised EU rules could help to lighten your day-to-day load of being an internationally mobile EU citizen. A few ideas already floated by fellow ‘citizens’: being able to work as a doctor in another country without speaking the language sufficiently – bad English is fine. Unrestricted international sale of tobacco products– good for the state budget. And harmonise all taxes, please.