Welcome to Better Europe's weekly update on EU Affairs. PARLIAMENT CHOOSES LEADERS FOR FIRST HALF OF THE MANDATE This week’s first plenary of 10th European Parliament revolved around organisational matters, ensuring that the European House of Democracy runs smoothly. Roberta Metsola (EPP, Malta) was re-appointed as President, for a second stint of 2,5 years. She will surround herself with three Vice-Presidents from her own party, five from Socialists and Democrats (S&D), two from Renew and two from European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), and one each from the Greens and the Left. Neither of the newly formed far-right parties, Patriots for Europe (PfE) nor Europe of Sovereign Nations (ESN), were able to grab the senior positions. However, the “cordon sanitaire” clearly no longer applies to ECR, with 2 Vice-Presidents. New MEPs…

Welcome to Better Europe's weekly update on EU Affairs. PARLIAMENT POLITICAL GROUPS PRESENT THEIR WISH LISTS FOR VDL 2.0 Major Parliament groups including the centre-right EPP, the liberal Renew, the left S&D, and even the Greens are discussing their priorities in exchange for supporting the Commission President-designate Ursula von der Leyen, who needs a support of at least 361 MEPs to be re-elected. Despite extreme heat in the south and unusual heavy rain in western Europe, the fight against climate change is no longer as high a priority for the Parliamentary groups as it was in 2019. While S&D, Renew, and the Greens do not want to backtrack on the Green Deal, they all have changed their view on what its continuation should look like. The S&D wants to keep…

Welcome to Better Europe's weekly update on EU Affairs. EPP WANTS TO HALT EU SUSTAINABILITY RULES TO IMPROVE COMPETITIVENESS The centre right EPP Group, which emerged as the largest parliamentary political group in the last elections, held its party convention in Portugal this week. The meeting allowed for strategic discussions on the new EU term, and for EPP members to agree on a set of proposals for the next Commission’s work programme. A leaked draft of the EPP’s “5-point plan for a strong Europe” places competitiveness at the heart of the EPP’s agenda and proposes that two thirds of the EU budget should be dedicated to it. Building upon Ursula von der Leyen’s 2023 commitment to reduce the reporting obligations of companies, the draft work plan also suggests to “halt…

Welcome to Better Europe's weekly update on EU Affairs. HUNGARY PREPARES FOR PRESIDENCY AMID CONCERNS OVER NATIONALIST AGENDA As we are moving towards the end of the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, which will wrap up on 30 June, Hungary is getting ready to take over. Although the rotating presidency of the Council is meant to position the presiding Member State as an honest broker, there are doubts in Brussels on whether Hungary will be able to ignore its national interests and not push for its populist and nationalist agenda. While Hungarian representatives have repeated that they would not deviate from customary practices, certain signs point at a different story – particularly last week’s reveal of the Presidency’s official slogan: “Make Europe Great Again”, which makes…

Welcome to Better Europe's weekly update on EU Affairs. EU LEADERS STRUGGLE TO FINALISE POST-ELECTION TOP JOB APPOINTMENTS Following the EU elections of 6-9 June, which resulted in an overall shift to the right, EU leaders met for an informal Council meeting on 18 June to agree on the appointment of EU top jobs for the next five years. A consensus had seemed to emerge ahead of the meeting, with EPP figures Ursula von der Leyen (Germany) and Roberta Metsola (Malta) expected to remain at the head of the Commission and Parliament, S&D’s António Costa (Portugal) likely to take the Presidency of the Council, and Renew’s Kaja Kallas envisioned to become EU’s diplomacy head. Yet no agreement was sealed on Monday, and discussions were shelved at least until next week.…

Welcome to Better Europe's weekly update on EU Affairs. WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT URSULA 2.0 After not so shocking election results, the race for the top EU positions now really begins. Officially, Heads of State will meet for a Summit in Brussels at the end of this month to talk about who will be the next Commission President, Council President, Parliament President, and the High Representative for External Affairs. Unofficially, the same Heads of State will meet already next Monday to discuss these key roles over dinner, with some already holding preliminary talks at the current G7 Summit. While President Ursula von der Leyen’s party (EPP) won this year’s elections and she remains a frontrunner, her fate as a second-term Commission President is not set in stone. Concessions will…

Welcome to Better Europe's weekly update on EU Affairs. MEMBER STATES AGREE ON GREEN CLAIMS RULES AHEAD OF NEGOTIATIONS WITH PARLIAMENT After the Parliament adopted its position in plenary last Mach, it is now up to the Council to take its position on the Green Claims Directive, which will require companies to submit evidence about their environmental marketing claims before so-called “sustainable” products. Member State ambassadors on 5 June approved the last version of the text ahead of a formal endorsement by environment ministers on 17 June. The revised version introduces new requirements for substantiating climate-related claims based on carbon offsetting and requires that traders prioritise emission reduction in their own operations and value chains rather than relying on the purchase of carbon credits. This approach is less ambitious than…

Welcome to Better Europe's weekly update on EU Affairs.   NEXT COMMISSION MANDATE COMES WITH A BIG IMPLEMENTATION QUESTION MARK Ahead of the next mandate, Euractiv invited five experts to talk about lessons to learn from the current action plans for the upcoming 5 years. Despite coming from different backgrounds (industry, Commission, Member State, and CSO), all experts spoke in unison when talking about the biggest lesson to learn, namely the need for a Just Transition with an emphasis on the social aspect. There is no discussion about the need to continue the Green Deal, with participants highlighting the need to preserve legal coherence and legal certainty for the investments that are needed. However, the Green Deal is not likely to continue in its current form, but will instead move…

Welcome to Better Europe's weekly update on EU Affairs. EU MINISTERS ENDORSE END OF THE ARTICLE 7 PROCEDURE AGAINST POLAND At the General Affairs Council this week, EU Ministers gave their nod of approval to end the Article 7 procedure against Poland. In 2017, the European Commission presented a reasoned proposal on a clear risk of serious breaches of the rule of law by Poland to the Council, thereby activating the relevant procedure under the EU Treaties. Despite its big, and dangerous sounding name, this Article 7(1) process is in fact a toothless tiger. It was used for the first time for Poland and Hungary, and only calls for a determination of a clear risk of a breach of the rule of law, one of the European values enshrined elsewhere…

Welcome to Better Europe's weekly update on EU Affairs. EUROGROUP MINISTERS ADOPT ROADMAP WITH STEPS TO DECIDE ON FUTURE OF CMU Eurogroup Finance Ministers this week presented their “first step towards delivery” of the future of the Capital Markets Union package, endorsing a one page high-level roadmap with six steps to be taken in the coming year. By focusing on the timing of key steps in the process, the statement tries to cover up the cracks in between Member States, with some calling for faster integration and the introduction of unified European-level supervision for the largest financial markets players, while others are pulling the emergency break. French President Emmanuel Macron and outgoing European Commissioner for Economy Paolo Gentiloni are clearly in the first group, using public statements to warn that…