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When mainstream politicians sound defeatist or disoriented, while the far-right breathes optimism and determination, something must be wrong.
At a time when the European Union is resetting its institutions, last week French President Emmanuel Macron repeated that the risk exists that our Union could collapse.
At an event in Berlin on Thursday, Macron said that the EU “could die” and that if it continues with a “classical” free-trade agenda while over-regulating and under-investing, it will be “out of the market” in two or three years.
The day before Macron and his host, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, diverged on key topics, including duties on imports of Chinese vehicles and trade talks with South American countries.
More importantly, Macron and Scholz have different views about Mario Draghi’s report on Europe’s competitiveness, which proposes a new wave of joint EU borrowing to invest in strategic sectors. This will be on the agenda of the next EU summit.
While France calls for a new EU, for Germany this is a no-go.
The famous Franco-German engine turns out to be a hybrid that suffers from too many complexities and downsides.
Conversely, far-right politicians are stepping on the gas. On Sunday, the Patriots for Europe group, including Hungary’s Viktor Orbán and Dutch anti-Islam and anti-migration Geert Wilders, gathered for a team-building exercise in Pontida, northern Italy, and the mood was upbeat.
Jordan Bardella, number two in Marine Le Pen’s National Rally, hopes to be the next President of France.
In Pontida, the far-right leaders expressed support for their host Matteo Salvini, who faces a prosecutor’s demand for a six-year sentence. This stems from his 2019 decision, as interior minister, to stop more than 100 migrants from landing in the country.
Prosecutors say he effectively kidnapped the migrants, forcing them to stay at sea for almost a week despite increasingly bleak conditions on their boat.
“He deserves exultation, not punishment,” Orbán told the crowd of flag-waving League supporters. “He defended the homes of Italians, and he has also defended Europe.”
The episode took place when pushbacks were considered illegal. But today, even Germany has re-introduced border controls and de facto pushback of immigrants at its borders.
Since he took power in 2010, Orbán has repeated the message that EU leaders may criticise him, but they will end up doing the same as him sooner or later.
In France, the new prime minister, Michel Barnier, has embarked on a hardline immigration policy Orbán would only approve.
But there is one thing the far-right politicians seem to worry about: the judiciary.
Criticism of the courts, as in the case of Salvini, can be heard more frequently. Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi once described the judiciary as the “cancer of democracy” – probably because his dealings were too often at the centre of their attention.
In the Netherlands, Wilders, the leader of the Party for Freedom, who was recently prosecuted and convicted of racial discrimination, criticised judges in his case as politically biased saying, “No one trusts you anymore.”
Same with Le Pen, who faces charges of embezzling millions of European Parliament funds to finance her party’s political activities. She has always denied the allegations, first flagged in 2015, and claims the case is politically driven.
When the eurosceptic Polish government of PiS was in power, their main objective was to subjugate the judiciary and take control of the public media. The present pro-EU government of Donald Tusk faces the daunting task of undoing the damage done.
If, however, the other Donald wins the US elections, Trumpism will receive a massive boost in Europe. It could even become mainstream.
The Strasbourg plenary debate on Wednesday featuring Orbán will be worth watching. Not for his performance, we suspect he will do well. But for the rebuke, he should get from the Commission and MEPs.
The Hungarian Prime Minister is Trump’s number one man in the EU. And if defeatism continues to prevail among the mainstream, he could soon be the most influential politician in Europe.
The Roundup
Documents seen by Euractiv reveal the European Parliament is mulling two timetables for the confirmation hearings of the next European Commission.
The Hungarian government denied any knowledge or involvement in the loan granted by Magyar Bankholding (MBH) to Spain’s far-right Vox party on Tuesday (8 October).
As the first-ever summit between the European Union and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) will take place next week, Europeans are eyeing closer ties on regional security and economic issues.
To solve the conflict in Gaza, Israel must be declared a terrorist state, Polish far-right MEP Grzegorz Braun said during a debate in the European Parliament on Monday, marking the first anniversary of the 7 October attacks.
After a second meeting with Robert Fico’s government, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal reiterated Ukraine’s decision not to extend its transit agreement with Russia, which expires at the end of this year, and urged European countries to reduce their dependence on Russian gas.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) tabled proposals to euro-area finance ministers on Monday (7 October) that would see the lender actively kickstarting the bloc’s Capital Markets Union plans and channelling funds to European companies seeking to scale up.
Three names, including the high-profile former Dutch defence minister, have emerged as contenders in a race to determine the future direction of the European Defence Agency (EDA) at a time when its future role remains unclear.
The leader of the far-right Sweden Democrats, Jimmie Akesson (SD, ECR), is now in hot water after a media investigation revealed that he allegedly knew the president of a motorcycle club with links to organised crime.
Look out for:
- Informal meeting of EU employment, social policy and health ministers, 9-10 October 2024
- European Parliament President Roberta Metsola meets Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
- Orbán will present the programme of activities of the Hungarian Presidency of the EU.
- European Committee of the Regions will hold its 162nd Plenary Session.
- European Commissioner Didier Reynders meets Commissioner of Japan’s Consumer Affairs Agency Yukata Arai. He will also meet Chair of the US Consumer Product Safety Alexander Hoehn-Saric, in Paris, France.
- Reynders will participate in the ministerial meeting of the OECD Committee on Consumer Policy, in Paris, France.
- European Commissioner Dubravka Šuica delivers a keynote speech at the Ukraine-South East Europe Summit, organised by the Government of the Republic of Croatia, in Dubrovnik, Croatia.
[Edited by Alice Taylor-Braçe/Rajnish Singh]
Source: euractiv.com
