Welcome to Better Europe’s weekly update on EU Affairs.
WHEN EVERYTHING IS URGENT, NOTHING IS
What do shooting wolves, reducing penalties for excessive car emissions, and delaying bank regulation have in common? Well, all three initiatives were on Parliament’s plenary agenda in Strasbourg this week, and all three made it through in record speed thanks to the urgent procedure, which allows Parliament to move fast on a Commission proposal when there are “unforeseen developments”. In a space of three days, MEPs agreed to use the urgent procedure and waive their right to amend these three legislative initiatives. Because no one could foresee that a wolf would kill a Very Important Pony in Germany three years ago, that a war on European soil would start nine years ago and intensify three years ago, or that banks would not be able to meet requirements agreed internationally in the aftermath of the 2007 financial crisis? No, the real reason is, as we have written before, U.S. President Trump governs by executive order and the Commission thinks it can do the same. Together with the excessive recourse to Article 122 of the Treaty, which allows Member States to rubberstamp Commission-drafted decisions on urgent economic matters or financial assistance without involving the Parliament, a major power grab is happening in Brussels and MEPs are barely waking up to it.
HOEKSTRA PUSHES 2040 CLIMATE TARGET THROUGH STORM
EU Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra this week defended the Commission’s push for 90% emissions cut by 2040, calling the target “ambitious but achievable” despite what he called a “geopolitical winter.” Speaking to the Parliament’s environment committee, Hoekstra pointed to progress on the 2030 targets (including an 8.3% drop in emissions in 2023) but warned that the next phase would be tougher. “The EU cannot afford a climate pause,” he said before presenting the upcoming Clean Industrial Deal as key to combining decarbonization with growth, and promising action this year to tighten the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) – especially on exports and downstream products. MEPs fairly raised red flags about fairness, the impact on industry and the EU’s credibility ahead of COP29. With a revised climate law on the horizon and national plans under review, the clock is ticking. One thing is clear: Hoekstra’s 2040 forecast opens the door to pressure, despite pockets of political resistance.
THE NGO FUNDING SCANDAL THAT WAS NOT A SCANDAL
NGOs could have finally been off the hook for allegations off misuse of funding with two positive developments this week and one still pending. Voting on the 2023 budget discharge, MEPs explicitly amended the text to say that EU-taxpayer funded NGOs have actually operated in full compliance with EU rules and with the LIFE regulation. As EU budget and anti-fraud commissioner Piotr Serafin’s told MEPs: “There is no fraud. There has never been fraud”. MEPs also inserted a clause in the report on the Protection of the EU’s Financial Interests report that civil society organisations “may receive Union funds to support their work”. However, one initiative attacking NGOs on their funding remains open, as the Parliament’s Conference of Presidents postponed a decision on the creation of a special inquiry committee, a heavy parliamentary instrument formally reserved for cases of maladministration or breach of EU law. Hungarian Patriot MEP Kinga Gál in plenary this week confirmed that the 180 signatures needed to set up a committee of inquiry had been submitted, but it seems in particular the EPP is reluctant to take sides and show its true colours.