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 tried: it reduced its plenary to four days in 2004, and introduced 24 hour “mini-plenaries” on Wednesday and Thursday in Brussels. In October 2012, two two-day sessions were held in one week, with touristic tours organised on Wednesday to formally make them into separate sessions. France didn’t buy it, and after a court judgement, the experiment it was not repeated. This month, as the EU is promoting work-at-home again due to the sharp spike in fossil fuel costs, MEPs are under pressure to review their love affair with the city on the river Aar as the EU asks national governments to reduce speeds on highways and introduce car-free Sundays. So far, only the evil Covid virus stopped the monthly gravy train for a while, even if in the end the Treaty prevailed: Parliament’s seat is Strasbourg, and Brussels is just a nice extra. If anything is to be abolished, perhaps it is the crumbling building in Brussels?
EU KEEPS KICKING THE CAN ON GAZA
More than two years after the escalation of the Israel-Gaza conflict, the EU is still taking a business-as-usual approach to its inclusion of Israel in EU academic research programmes and the EU-Israel association agreement, as products made in occupied territories continue to be sold on the EU’s internal market. Meanwhile, a European Citizen’s Initiative easily reached the one million signatures threshold required to challenge the institution’s ongoing cooperation with Israel, and hundreds of EU staffers have taken the risk of speaking up against their hierarchy on the double standards applied when it comes to the conflict. Additionally, academics argue that Commission Chief Ursula von der Leyen is ‘pinkwashing’: Ukrainian women are ‘unseen heroes, working tirelessly behind the scenes’ while Palestinian women are… not mentioned ever in the public statements analysed. This week, Spain, supported by Ireland, Slovenia and Luxembourg, stepped up the pressure on EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas, arguing Israel is not respecting the democratic principles and human rights provisions in the agreement. But even a partial suspension, which would only require a qualified and not an absolute majority, was not achievable, and so the can is once again kicked down the road.
COLD SHOWER FOR ONE EUROPE, ONE MARKET PLAN
“One Europe, One Market”. Sounds good, until you realise that we don’t have one set of laws in Europe when it comes in labour law, insolvency law or taxation. So, building one market on top of 27 different rules means regulatory arbitrage, or in plain English: a race to the bottom. National leaders and the Presidents of the Parliament and Commission seem to have understood the message, toning down their initial enthusiasm for the “One Market” roadmap to be adopted in Cyprus today into a less ambitious list of recommendations. The document cements the desire of Member States to address the ‘ Terrible Ten‘ barriers to the internal market and complete the Savings and Investment Union by the end of this year, and wraps up the commitments made by EU leaders in a Belgian castle in February. It includes the promise to deliver a 28th regime for company law, an initiative proudly announced by Commission President von der Leyen in Davos earlier this year, which is likely to require significant consessions in the Parliament. The statement adopted in Ayia Napa on the eastern point of Cyprus, less than a hundred nautical miles away from Syria and Lebanon, also reflect a disconnect between the desire of EU leaders to be seen doing something, and the reality on the ground. As always, the EU sausage factory does not move as fast as politicians want, and officials at technical level admit that the timelines suggested by their political masters are overly optimistic.