Monday’s 50-minute keynote speech by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Prague was many things: stock-taking, reaffirming allies and promising EU reform. But it was also a response to a programmatic speech France’s Emmanuel Macron made almost five years ago.
In 2017, Macron visited the Sorbonne university in Paris and gave the “I have come to talk to you about Europe” speech, which infamously received a lacklustre response from Berlin and the then-chancellor Angela Merkel. As punctual as the Deutsche Bahn, Berlin finally responded in 2022. It took a war on Europe’s doorstep and a change in chancellor.
“What is missing is a regular exchange at the political level, a forum in which we, EU heads of state and government and our European partners, discuss once or twice a year,” Scholz said, picking up Macron’s idea of a European political community.
The issues to discuss would be those that “affect our continent as a whole: security, energy, climate or connectivity.” Scholz’s words were essentially a bouquet of roses with a bow on it saying “Emmanuel, I’m sorry for Angela’s deeds.”
While this idea continues to be tantalising to some political observers, Scholz’s speech has been met with a fair amount of silence in the EU.
Some pundits attributed the quiet EU reaction to Scholz’s lack of vision and charm, but they may be making a misjudgement.
Make no mistake: Scholz’s oration bored the auditorium to tears.
He stuck to his 23-page manuscript for the entirety of the speech, literally not letting go of the pages it was printed on. The students in attendance barely reacted throughout, and their applause at the end appeared to be more out of relief and politeness than enthusiasm.
But while Scholz’s delivery left something to be desired, the content was right. He was right to recognise the need to keep the EU coherent instead of having a jungle of opt-outs and integration at different speeds.
The chancellor outlined a vision for an EU with 30 countries at first, then 36, which would significantly change the bloc as we know it. The intake of Ukraine alone will bolster the EU’s population by around 40 million people, and moving eastward is more likely to increase tensions with Russia than calm them.
Scholz correctly pointed out the EU’s “considerable need to catch up” in defending against threats from the skies and space. Instead of offering a Germany-only solution to the challenge, he proposed to “design this future air defence from the outset in such a way that our European neighbours can also participate in it”.
In proposing a “jointly built air defence system in Europe,” Scholz offered tacit support to Macron’s push for strategic autonomy while simultaneously assuring NATO generals by presenting the matter as “strengthening the European pillar of NATO”.
Still, his speech was not all roses. While his plans to abolish unanimity in certain policy areas step-by-step are welcome and could do wonders for the EU’s ability to operate as a global actor, the European Parliament was once again the biggest loser.
A strengthened European Parliament could be the answer to the EU’s democratic deficit.
Scholz only deigned to mention the institution in the context of bloated parliaments – an amusing statement from a German leader, given that the new Bundestag has added an extra 138 MPs more than intended by law due to electoral shenanigans, thus approaching the size of India’s parliament.
Yet, Scholz touched upon an important aspect: the division of seats in the European Parliament, which over-represents small states at the expense of larger countries, is neither fair nor democratic. A vote in Malta carries far more weight than one in Germany, yet both are EU citizens.
He did not say it outright, but with Scholz wanting to reform all EU institutions, perhaps it may be time to fix the composition of the Parliament in exchange for empowering the body by granting it a right of initiative.
In all, the Chancellor’s speech was much less ambitious than his government’s coalition treaty, which spoke of channelling the Conference on the Future of Europe into progress toward a “federal European state”, a bold statement that reverberated across the bloc last year.
Yet, it would be doing the speech a disservice to let it disappear into the void. Perhaps lowering his sights will increase the odds of success.
The Roundup
Russia’s Gazprom will reduce gas deliveries to Engie from Tuesday in a dispute over contracts, the French utility said, deepening winter energy supply concerns.
Russia condemned the destruction of Soviet war memorials in the three Baltic states and accused them on Tuesday of persecuting their Russian-speaking minorities.
Meanwhile, Russian e-commerce firm Ozon said on Tuesday it would open a local office in Turkey and make it easier for consumers to make cross-border orders, helping Russian shoppers to buy goods directly from Turkish sellers on its platform.
The Vatican acted to mend strained relations with Ukraine on Tuesday after Pope Francis upset Kyiv by referring to Russian ultra-nationalist Darya Dugina, who was killed by a car bomb near Moscow, as an innocent victim of war.
Food insecurity aggravated by the war in Ukraine and rising inflation is bringing about further instability in the Middle East and North Africa, leading to a need for systemic changes to empower people in the region, utilising the network of universities.
The French, long seen as fervent supporters of nuclear power, now appear to also favour renewable energies, according to a new survey which gives the government a welcome boost as it prepares a new law to accelerate energy infrastructure projects.
Last but not least, don’t forget to check out the new edition of our weekly Transport Brief.
Look out for…
- Commission Vice-President Margaritis Schinas meets with Gdansk mayor Aleksandra Dulkiewicz.
- Innovation and Culture Commissioner Mariya Gabriel meets with state secretary for culture and media of the Netherlands.
- Informal meeting of defence ministers in Prague.
Views are the author’s.
[Edited by Zoran Radosavljevic/Benjamin Fox/Nathalie Weatherald]
Source: euractiv.com
