Hey Europe! Can We Talk? MeetEU is your place to meet Europeans from all of the Continent and discuss the Future of Europe
After several months of exchanges with Europeans from Lisbon to Vienna, an event with Daniel Freund (MEP, Greens/EFA) and a drafting phase, the MeetEU proposal is ready for you to read.
We look forward to talking to specialists about this proposal later this year.
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Regarding their Proposal, our team members Klaus Feldmann and Moritz Wille forwarded the article Thinking Europe European: On the Question of Transnational Electoral Lists to the European Parliament, which got published in a special newsletter by the Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund (German Trade Union Confederation).
You can read the article on their website (www.dgb.de) :
Europa europäisch denken: zur Frage der transnationalen Wahllisten zum Europäischen Parlament | DGB
A group of young Europeans combining 11 nationalities travelled to Strasbourg in October as part of the MeetEU-Group. Find out what they experienced by checking out our new Report
As part of the Conference on the Future of Europe, the transnational Project MeetEU.eu organized a citizen-mayors online event about the implementation of the European Green in the cities of Europe. As speakers, we welcomed Jeanne Barseghian, Mayor of Strasbourg, and Katrin Habenschaden, second Mayor of Munich.
I.
Electric vehicles (EV) as a buffer storage for the city; parked EVs could become the battery storage of the whole city, stabilizing power grids powered by wind and solar energy.
II.
Turning the roofs of shopping centers (and the like) into green zones (with meadows, trees etc.) where residents can spend their spare time and exercise.
III.
Reuse of buildings first: Before new construction projects are started, ensure that there are no abandoned offices, shopping centers, factories, schools, etc. that could be refurbished.
The EU wants to achieve carbon-neutrality by 2050. Cities are key players in this transition. They consume the most energy and emit the most greenhouse gases.
So how is the Green Deal being implemented on a local level? What are mayors doing to enhance quality of life in their cities – what measures are they taking to make cities greener to protect their residents from heat stress and extreme weather events? What are they doing to decarbonize buildings and transport? And is there a best practice exchange between EU cities?
We’d like to discuss these questions with two majors of two important European cities: Jeanne Barseghian (Mayor of Strasbourg) and Katrin Habenschaden (2nd Mayor, City of Munich).
Some comments from the participants:
(A person from Estonia)
I admire Merkel for her ability to compromise. But the next German chancellor should take a harder line on Russia. Estonia, for example, has reduced its independence from Russian gas as much as it could.
In addition, the new Chancellor should reconsider the cooperation with China and the far-right movements in Europe.
(A person from Sweden)
Although the Hong Kong government cracked down on the Hong Kong democracy movement, Germany maintained business as usual with Hong Kong and China. The next German Chancellor should be more aware of the Far-Right and nationalistic shift in many countries. We had this at the beginning of the 20th century. Europe and the world are moving in dangerous dimensions. This is an issue the new German Chancellor should address.
(A person from Poland)
The Western world values profits over people. On international stage, we are dealing with men like Putin and Xi Jinping who want to control people. But we as Europeans must think first and foremost of lives and human rights, not profit.
(A person from Germany)
I’m a high school student. I’d like the next German Chancellor to save the Earth for my generation.
(A person from Belgium)
Europe and Germany should use energy or trade dependencies for gradual change. Corporations should have something to lose if they do business with us. Take Huawei. The EU or Germany should say, we give you a 5G contract with certain limitations, relating to an improvement of the human rights situation. If these requirements are met, we can talk about expanding the contract.
(A person from Poland)
I disagree. No arrangements will change autocracies. These countries are no democracies. They don’t care about human rights or civil rights. They just take our money and continue to oppress people and making minorities subjects to forced labor. The next German Chancellor should take a more active role in addressing this issue.
(Another person from Germany)
We shouldn’t look only at the candidates who run for German Chancellor, but also at the people they sit at the table with, for instance the coal or automotive industry.
(A person from Germany)
My hope is that we won’t destroy Earth in the long run. That is why the new German Chancellor should pursue ambitious climate goals.
Poland’s freedom icon Lech Walesa believes powerhouse Germany should lead either a deeply reformed, or an entirely rebuilt European Union, in the wake of a possible Brexit. (Euractive 2016)
or
Germany with its tightfisted approach on Eurobonds, common debt and spending should get out of the way and leave the European leadership to more progressive countries like France and Italy.
It is between these two positions that the expectations of European citizens vary.
Please be prepared to discuss the expectation of your fellow countrymen and -women! After a short introduction, you will have the opportunity to express your opinion.
Norway’s centre-left opposition won a majority in parliament after Monday’s general election. The new possible government parties oppose to look for new oil and gas fields, while existing ones shall stay in operation for 5-8 more years. Once those are exhausted, the EU will have to look for new suppliers (if renewables can not replace them by then). Russia will continue to offer itself as an energy supplier in order to try to create dependency. Projects like Nordstream 2 show that some EU members states are willing to accept the Russian offer, underestimating the strategic risks for other EU member states.
To prevent this, the EU should pursue the following:
Norway is today the second-largest exporter of natural gas to the EU, behind only Russia. Although not an EU member, through EEA and EFTA, Norway plays a significant part in EU energy policy supplying oil and between 18%-25% of the EU’s gas demand. For Norway, oil and gas equals about half of the total value of its exports, making them the most important export commodities in the Norwegian economy.
With a fragmented electorate, though, any Norwegian government coalition building looks to be dependent on the smaller parties, and they are calling for an end to oil and gas exploration. In a surprise move after trailing in the polls and with just two weeks before the election, incumbent Prime Minister, Erna Solberg’s government proposed overhauling how it taxes the companies that extract petroleum.
Some say, the changes risk calling into doubt the stability of the petroleum based foundation of the Norwegian fiscal system and risks upending current EU energy policy. What does this hold for a post-oil Europe and how will it impact the politics of Norwegian oil and gas importers (Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, France, Belgium, Denmark and others)?
September 9th we had the opportunity to discuss our proposal publicly during an event organized by the think tank Polis 180. Participating experts were Thu Nguyen (Jacques Delors Centre), the President of the European Movement Germany, Linn Selle, and the German MEP Gabriele Bischoff (S&D), vice chair of the EP committee on constitutional matters.
Applications for traineeships at the European Commission have just opened: this is your chance to get practical experience thanks to a paid experience in EU Directorates, Institutions and agencies. You could be placed in Brussels, in Luxembourg or elsewhere across the European Union, where other EU agencies are located.
If you are a university graduate of any discipline who does not have more than 6 weeks of experience working in an EU institution, body, agency or delegation, grab your opportunity and apply by 31 August 2021, 12:00 midday, Brussels time (traineeship period 1 March 2022 – 31 July 2022).
*The information about the project does not come from MeetEU but from an official EU site. We cannot answer any questions about the project.
During the discussion, three focal points emerged that caused concerns among the participants:
First Concern: Slovenia’s controversial prime minister Janša. Participants were concerned about media freedom in Slovenia, especially the government’s attempt to silence critical media and other critical voices, including NGOs, with a generally repressive tone and actions. Another point of concern was Hungarian money close to Orbán’s circles pouring into Slovenia’s media landscape.
Second Concern: Interpretation of common European values. The participants were worrying which European values the EU Presidency under Janša’s leadership would like to strengthen. The prevailing opinion was that Slovenia’s ruling coalition tries to reinterpret common European values towards traditional values using a nationalistic narrative.
Third Concern: Further Enlargement of the Bloc. The European Parliament Liaison Office’s representative emphasized that Slovenia advocates for the Western Balkans integration in the EU. First, because Slovenia doesn’t want this geostrategic vacuum to be filled by Russia and China. Second, because Slovenia is part of the region. That is why it is striving for further integration with its neighbors, not only politically but also in the areas of transport, digitalization, environmental and climate action. To push for Western Balkans enlargement, Slovenia will host an EU summit with representatives of the six Balkan countries on October 6, in Ljubljana. This summit was welcomed by the participants. However, some attendees expressed concerns about the unanimity principle weakening the capacity of an enlarged EU to act. They would only support an EU enlargement if there were reforms, i.e. abolishing of the right of veto.
Quote from an article in SÜDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG on EU-Russia relations today: Borrell, too, knows that Putin and his Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov do not see the EU as an equal, preferring to contact Germany, France or even Hungary directly. “They have told me that Russia is not interested in engaging with the EU, but prefers to talk to the member states that are relevant to them,” the 74-year-old says with his characteristic honesty. That’s why, he says, it’s important for EU countries to stand united and keep telling Moscow, “You have to talk to the EU.”
I don’t know enough about Mr. Borrell to appreciate him or consider him out of his depth. However, from this little note the whole dilemma of the EU emerges: As long as we insist on our respective small national importance, the EU cannot grow into the necessary role of global heavyweight on par with China, Russia and the US. As long as we do not come to a way of thinking, specifically in foreign politics, in which we understand and accept national interests quite naturally only as subsets of a common European interest, the EU will not be able to deliver on our expectation to stand our ground.
This is what the debate about strategic autonomy of the EU is all about.
This article was written by Klaus Feldmann and reflects his personal opinion.