A few weeks ago, Angela Merkel was adopted at her last EU summit. Now, for the first time, the new Chancellor is sitting in the top group in Brussels.
Will Olaf Scholz hold back for the time being? Or try to set accents right away?
The new German Chancellor will be under special observation today at his first EU summit – also because his predecessor Angela Merkel had a very strong influence on the group of heads of state and government for 16 years. There are plenty of opportunities for the SPD politician to make a name for himself in terms of content right from the start. The topics of the one-day meeting at a glance:
Covid-19
What next in view of the worrying variant Omikron, which, according to the EU health authority ECDC, will soon dominate in the EU? That is why the discussion at the beginning of the EU summit will turn. The result should be an urgent appeal to promote vaccination as quickly as possible – including booster vaccinations. There is currently a dramatic gap between the vaccination rates in the 27 EU countries. In Bulgaria, for example, less than 30 percent of citizens are fully vaccinated. Vaccine skepticism should be overcome by fighting disinformation, according to the latest draft for the summit declaration.
At the same time, the EU states want to find a common line with a view to freedom of travel. Further coordination is required so as not to jeopardize the internal market and unnecessarily impair freedom of movement, it said. However, countries like Italy are already making progress without much agreement. Since this Thursday, Rome has been demanding a negative corona test from all travelers from other EU countries – even if they are vaccinated. The summit also wants to reaffirm that it will give Africa in particular greater support in terms of vaccine supplies.
Energy prices
What should be done in view of the sharp rise in energy prices? There have been heated discussions about this question in the EU for weeks. Some of the Member States believe that structural reforms are needed, while others believe that this is a temporary phenomenon that only requires short-term compensatory measures for poor or particularly badly affected consumers.
A preliminary report by the EU energy regulator ACER concludes that the markets are mostly functioning well. However, Paris is still calling for a reform of the electricity markets so that consumers of renewable energies pay less than gas consumers, for example.
The EU’s emissions trading system (ETS) could also become an issue, in which, for example, industry has to pay for CO2 emissions. Poland, among others, blames alleged speculation on the ETS market for the high energy prices. The market surveillance authority ESMA has so far not been able to find any evidence of this.
An upcoming decision on whether gas and nuclear power plants should be considered climate-friendly could also be addressed. All eyes are on France and Germany, as President Emmanuel Macron and Chancellor Scholz could not agree on the subject of so-called taxonomy until the end. This is a classification system for “green” financial products. However, it is unclear whether a breakthrough at the summit will succeed. Above all, the Greens in the new German federal government are against nuclear power being classified as climate-friendly, as demanded by France.
Russia & Security
The summit should send a clear message to Russia’s President Vladimir Putin. The latest draft of the final declaration states that the country urgently needs to defuse the tensions caused by the troop deployment on the border with Ukraine and aggressive rhetoric. Any further military aggression against Ukraine would have “massive consequences and high costs”.
In order to be able to act internationally in the future, the EU’s ability to act autonomously is to be strengthened. They will “take on more responsibility for their own security and defense,” says the draft for the summit declaration.
Migration
When it comes to migration, there are a number of construction sites in the EU and almost as many interests of the member states. The summit will now deal with the so-called external aspects. This primarily means the relationship with the countries of origin and transit of those migrants who come to Europe. The summit declaration is intended to call on the EU Commission and the foreign representative to conclude new agreements on the readmission of migrants without a residence permit in the EU. The “necessary lever” should also be used for this purpose. The EU wants to use the visa policy as a means of exerting pressure when dealing with uncooperative countries. Other options could be trade policy or development aid.
business
At the end of the day, the heads of state and government come together for the so-called euro summit. Among other things, they want to address the economic recovery from the Corona crisis and possible risks from the new Omikron variant.
Source From: Stern
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