Summary

Next week, the Members of the European Parliament (“MEPs”) will gather in Brussels for the final week of committee meetings before the summer recess.  A number of hearings and debates are scheduled to take place.

On Tuesday, the Committee on International Trade (“INTA”) will have an exchange of views with Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström on recent developments in EU Trade Policy.  It is expected this hearing will touch on topics such as the EU challenge under the EU-Korea Free Trade Agreement to labor rights practices, and the EU-Vietnam and EU-Mercosur Free Trade Agreements, which are yet to be approved by the European Parliament.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, several committees will hold hearings with Finnish ministers on the priorities of the Finnish Presidency of the Council of the EU.  Finland has taken up the rotating Presidency as of July 1 and will remain President until the end of 2019.  The Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (“ITRE”), the Committee on Regional Development (“REGI”), the Committee on Development (“DEVE”), and the Committee on Transport and Tourism (“TRANS”) will all question the respective Finnish ministers on their policies and positions.  The Finnish government has distributed its programme, titled “Sustainable Europe – Sustainable Future”, that sets out Finland’s four priorities: the strengthening of common values and the rule of law; of the EU’s competitiveness and social inclusivity; of the EU’s position as global leader in climate action; and of the comprehensive security of its citizens.  See the Finnish Presidency’s program here.

On Wednesday, the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (“LIBE”) will have an exchange of views with the Commissioner for the Security Union, Julian King.  The hearing comes at a time when the European Commission has received the national risk assessments of the Member States with regard to the presence of foreign telecom companies in Member States’ 5G networks.  The Commission will complete its own risk assessment by October 1.  It can be anticipated that the MEPs of LIBE will question the Commissioner on the implications of these security concerns on civil rights and data protection.
Continue Reading The Week Ahead in the European Parliament –  July 19, 2019

After the election of the new European Parliament on May 24-26, the European Council met three times to discuss the package of appointments of EU’s new leaders (see our blog ‘elections and appointments in the European Union’ …) .

The white smoke came on Tuesday July 2 with the selection of new presidents for the European Commission, the European Council and the European Central bank as well as the High Representative for Foreign affairs. The day after, on July 3, the European Parliament elected its new president.

The new Parliament, on July 16, ‘elected’ Ursula von der Leyen as president of the EU Commission, confirming the choice made by the European Council.  The new European Commission will be assembled over the summer, in time for hearings in the Fall, before they take office on November 1.

 A Team of Convinced Europeans

The new leaders selected by the European Council have one characteristic in common: they are all convinced Europeans, favoring further EU integration and a leading role for EU and other multilateral institutions. This is noteworthy, at a time when nationalism, populism and euroscepticism seemed to have gained ground in many European countries. The message is that there is still a strong majority for the continuation of an ambitious European project.

• Ursula von der Leyen, appointed to succeed Jean-Claude Juncker as president of the EU Commission, is a close ally of Angela Merkel since her first term as chancellor. As German Defense minister she was a strong promotor of European defense: “Europe’s army is already taking shape,” she said recently. In 2016, she published a very ambitious White Paper on Defense – in shop contrast with the traditional German reticence on the issue.
• Charles Michel, who will replace Donald Tusk as president of the European Council in December, is a convinced European, as are the vast majority of his compatriots. As Belgian prime minister for the past five years, he led a coalition including a Flemish nationalist party, the N-VA, but this did not prevent him from promoting further European integration. This made him one of the closest allies in the Council of French President Emmanuel Macron.
• Christine Lagarde, appointed as successor to Mario Draghi as president of the European Central Bank, played an important role in EU policy during the financial crisis of 2008. As the French Finance Minister, she presided over the Ecofin Council during the French presidency, at the peak of the crisis. She is credited, together with president Sarkozy, with keeping the EU united and even able to influence the global reaction to the crisis. As IMF president during the past eight years, among her many achievements she can count contributing to the preservation of the Eurozone by having the fund participate in the rescue of Greece.
• Josep Borrell, the Spanish Foreign Minister and the nominee for the post of High Representative, entered politics as a close ally of Spanish socialist leader Felipe Gonzales, who brought Spain into the European Union during the Eighties. He was President of the European Parliament from 2004 to 2007. Being himself Catalan, he is a strong opponent to the secession of Catalonia from Spain.
• The leaders also suggested giving senior positions in the new Commission to Frans Timmermans and Margarethe Vestager, who were among the most prominent operators in the Juncker Commission and had been nominated by their party groups as “Spitzenkandidaten”, or lead candidates, for the Commission Presidency.

Continue Reading The new European Leadership