German Trade Union Confederation shares Rethink EU-Elections Article

by Allgemein

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

 

Debate On Slovenian Council Presidency

by Allgemein
This week, we hosted a discussion with the European Parliament Liaison Office (EPLO) in Ljubljana. Together with the EPLO representative, 18 participants from different EU countries (aged between 18 and 75) exchanged perspectives on the current political situation in Slovenia and evaluated the priorities of the Slovenian Presidency in terms of urgency and the possibilities or the will to implement them.

During the discussion, three focal points emerged that caused concerns among the participants:

Press freedom

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.

EU-Values

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.

EU Enlargement

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.

Strategic autonomy vs. Divide et impera

by Allgemein

OPINION
KLAUS FELDMANN

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.

We look forward to your comments. Discuss with our community on Discord:
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Hello, my name is Klaus. My grey hair gives me away for pushing our group’s age average a bit north. It’s great fun cooperating with such a dedicated group of young people from different EU member states on that lofty goal of a united Europe. A real European Union, based on the EU-Charter of Fundamental Rights, the Rule of Law and a healthy environment, a global flagship project, is what I want to leave behind for my grandchildren. I help out here and there and provide some content.
Klaus
Research Work

The European Union’s Teeth

by Allgemein

OPINION
KLAUS FELDMANN

The current impasse on the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol of the EU-UK Brexit agreement teaches 2 important lessons:

  1. EU membership carries with it the possibility of peace. Peace in Northern Ireland, as agreed upon in the Good Friday Agreement, was made possible under the EU umbrella, under which national boundaries lose significance. With folding the EU umbrella by exiting the EU the UK has reinstated the pre-GFA and pre-EU-membership context.
    The Northern Ireland Protocol is designed to mitigate the dire consequences. It was the result of extensive negotiations in which both sides made concessions to uphold the conditions for peace in Northern Ireland in spite of Brexit. Not adhering to the Protocol is tantamount to pulling out the rug from under the result of 5 years of negotiations.
  2. All this should not come as a surprise: Even before becoming Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced his Brexit philosophy by declaring that he wants to have his cake and eat it too, i.e. have all the benefits of EU membership without any of the strings and responsibilities attached.
    With respect to the Northern Ireland Protocol, it is safe to assume that the British side never intended to honor their commitments. It was a negotiations ploy to get the exit agreement over the hurdle. Considering all the public statements made along the way by Johnson, Frost et al. (Johnson: „absolutely no border down the Irish Sea“) as well as the recent actions like unilaterally moving out deadlines for the protocols implementation are a case in point.
    Here is the naked thought underlying the UK approach to negotiating the solution for Northern Ireland: To demonstrate effort we will negotiate hard but in the end it does not matter what we sign! We will not stick to it anyway. We will appeal to the court of UK public opinion, ask the EU for pragmatic solutions, call them legal purists* and a bureaucratic monster, request the EU to avoid being “bloody-minded” about the issue of border checks, we depict ourselves as the victim of EU-agression etc… In this way we’ll win the war for public opinion at home and put pressure on the EU to make further concessions beyond the agreed upon treaties until we get, what we want. And that is „We want to have our cake and eat it too!

This is where the European Union’s teeth come into play. And I’m glad I’ve seen them being bared a bit lately. The EU can not let itself be suckered by this approach.

At the same time, we need to keep the candle in the window for the British people: You are part of our European family, and you’ll always be welcomed back!

*as if this is a bad thing

This article was written by Klaus Feldmann and reflects his personal opinion.

We look forward to your comments. Discuss with our community on Discord:
Join the discussion
Hello, my name is Klaus. My grey hair gives me away for pushing our group’s age average a bit north. It’s great fun cooperating with such a dedicated group of young people from different EU member states on that lofty goal of a united Europe. A real European Union, based on the EU-Charter of Fundamental Rights, the Rule of Law and a healthy environment, a global flagship project, is what I want to leave behind for my grandchildren. I help out here and there and provide some content.
Klaus
Research Work