At their summit meeting in Brussels, the member states exchange views on a range of topics – and make groundbreaking decisions. In some cases, however, no agreement can be reached. An overview of the topics discussed:
The EU states have agreed in principle on a joint approach to strengthening the domestic economy in the face of massive US subsidies. By the beginning of next year, the EU Commission should work out a corresponding strategy, said an EU official. However, the means remain controversial: French President Emmanuel Macron called for a decisive response to the US climate and social package worth billions. The EU must react “much faster and more strongly” to the US subsidies. This requires new European community funds, which could be provided in the form of guarantees, loans or subsidies.
In a letter to the heads of state and government, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that she would present a plan for a new “sovereignty fund” by the summer. Macron said this is going in the right direction but is not fast enough. By January, von der Leyen’s authority will now also examine how investment conditions can be improved and “national and European instruments” can be mobilized.
The federal government strictly rejects new debt-financed community aid. Chancellor Olaf Scholz emphasized on Wednesday after the EU-ASEAN summit in Brussels that there were still “quite a lot of undistributed funds” that Europe could use. Among other things, he referred to the 750 billion euros from the Corona reconstruction fund. According to earlier information, Berlin wants to prevent a “subsidy race” with the USA.
So far there has been no agreement in the month-long dispute over a gas price cap. The heads of state and government tasked energy ministers to find a solution at their next meeting in Brussels on Monday. At the summit, Scholz demanded that this must be done by consensus. The federal government fears supply bottlenecks if the Europeans introduce such a price cap for the wholesale price of gas. Theoretically, Germany could be outvoted since unanimity is not required on the issue of EU rules.
The heads of state and government discussed additional aid for his country with the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj. “The fight for peace in Ukraine and across Europe should not depend on misunderstandings and controversies between some EU member states,” Zelenskyy said in a video message to the summit. There is no rational reason why Ukraine shouldn’t get modern tanks now. The same applies to long-range artillery and missile systems, which could hasten the end of Russian aggression. “All of this would mean a direct saving of millions of lives.”
At the summit, the EU states wanted to release further Ukraine aid amounting to 18 billion euros. In the meantime, Poland blocked the confirmation, which was actually considered a formality. According to diplomats, Warsaw then cleared the way. In Brussels, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki initially spoke of “blackmail” because the 18 billion euros for Kyiv were linked to other issues such as the minimum tax for international corporations.
The Czech Republic, which will hold the presidency of the member states until the end of the year, had put together the Ukraine aid, the minimum tax and the funds for Hungary in a package in order to achieve a breakthrough on the controversial issues. According to diplomats, Warsaw was therefore angry with the Czech Republic and blocked the decision. Actually, Poland sees itself as the biggest supporter of Ukraine in the EU.
There was also a dispute over the planned tightening of sanctions against Russia. Germany, together with countries such as France and the Netherlands, called for the existing rules for sanctions to be changed as part of the planned ninth sanctions package in order to avoid disrupting trade in agricultural products and fertilizers. Other countries such as Poland and Lithuania, on the other hand, see reports of agricultural exports allegedly prevented by sanctions as Russian propaganda and did not want to accept any changes until the very end. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said Russian lobbyists and agents are very active in Brussels. They wanted to ensure that the EU sanctions were relaxed.
Speaking of exerting influence: At the start of the summit, the heads of state and government discussed the affair with the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, over the alleged bribery of MPs by Qatar. Metsola then announced “far-reaching” reforms in parliament.
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer, meanwhile, has called on the European Union to fund border fences in Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary to stop illegal immigration. “We finally have to break the taboo fences,” he said in Brussels. According to him, 75,000 people entered the EU and crossed it to Austria without being registered. He did not name a period. “It’s a security problem and it has to be solved,” Nehammer said. Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary should be supported in border security. “These are countries that should also protect the external border for all of us who are landlocked countries. We see that there are problems here, that there is a shortage.”
According to preliminary data from the EU border protection agency Frontex, there were more than 308,000 irregular border crossings into the EU in the first eleven months of the year. This is an increase of 68 percent compared to the same period last year. On the western Balkan route alone, 45 percent of these people came to the EU, mainly from Syria, Afghanistan, Turkey and Tunisia. 2022 will probably be the year with the most irregular border crossings since 2016, Frontex announced at the beginning of the week.
The heads of state and government finally agreed on this matter: the Balkan country Bosnia-Herzegovina will be officially included in the list of candidate countries. The Europe Ministers of the EU countries had already made a corresponding recommendation on Tuesday. The reason was also the concern that Bosnia-Herzegovina could otherwise orient itself more towards Russia or China. In June, following a Commission recommendation, the EU states officially named Ukraine and Moldova as candidates for EU membership. However, accession negotiations are only to begin once the reform requirements have been met. This procedure should now also apply to the Balkan country of Bosnia-Herzegovina, which has around 3.3 million inhabitants.
