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 the usual veto threats from Viktor Orbán. And Council President Costa had also hoped for a substantive exchange on the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). While in theory leaders could spend a night in Brussels and really find a solution, the revised draft conclusions seem to indicate the usual ‘regrets’ and ‘urges’ will have to do it.
SPECIAL HOUSING CRISIS COMMITTEE DISAPPOINTS
A milestone was reached this week by the Parliament as it adopted its report on the housing crisis, a symbolic step as housing climbs the European political agenda. The text, negotiated in the Parliament’s “Special Committee on the Housing Crisis in the European Union” calls for stronger support for affordable housing, more investment in social and public housing, and measures to address rising rents and shortages across the bloc. Liberals and social-democrats welcomed the text, arguing it bears “strong progressive fingerprints”, citing provisions on tenant protection, homelessness and regulating short-term rentals. But the compromise remains politically contested: several groups on the left rejected the deal, arguing it reflects a conservative focus on boosting supply and private investment rather than tackling speculation. Environmental NGOs were also unimpressed, warning that the push for faster construction risks weakening environmental safeguards and fails to deliver the deeper shift needed to address Europe’s housing, energy and climate crises.
BABY STEPS ON EP RIGHT OF INITIATIVE
It’s all political, and we knew it. The Commission is no longer the evidence-based technocratic facilitator of EU legislation, but a political body. And Parliament now officially “strongly regrets that the Commission is increasingly failing to carry out impact assessment”, as rapporteur Warborn’s report on Better Regulation adopted in plenary this week confirms. But in an earlier debate on Monday, MEPs also discussed that better times are coming: a new Framework Agreement on relations between the European Parliament and the European Commission. Described by some as baby steps in lieu of fundamental Treaty reform, the agreement nevertheless clearly clarifies when the Commission can use the emergency provisions in the Treaty and how they should justify doing so. It also entrenches the responsibility for the Commission to follow up on every request for legislation from the Parliament – Commissioner Šefčovič explained that President Von der Leyen kept her promise and answered 24 out of 25 requests, even if many did not lead to legislation due to “proportionality, subsidiarity and better regulation principles”.