Strasbourg, 11/03/2015 (Agence Europe) - At a debate before the plenary assembly of the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Wednesday 11 March, to prepare for the forthcoming European spring summit, the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, warned that he will ask the heads of state and government of the EU for a “clarification of their short and long-term intentions” regarding the EU/US free-trade negotiations (TTIP).
“I will insist that the European leaders clearly tell us things. At the meetings of the European Council, they have pledged their unfailing support and as soon as they go back home, I read that their enthusiasm has waned. I want to get clarity on this matter”, Juncker insisted.
In their conclusions of 18 December, the European heads of state and government called on the EU and the United States to “make all efforts necessary to conclude an ambitious, global and mutually beneficial agreement by the end of 2015”. However, the controversial issues of the investor/state dispute settlement mechanism (ISDS), the transatlantic alignment of standards and the liberalisation of services, with the resulting risks to the public services, have fed the fears of certain capitals, which have sometimes sent out mixed messages about the TTIP. The eighth round of talks at technical level was held in Brussels in early February and the next will take place in the US in April.
On Wednesday, the preparatory debate for the European spring Council also discussed the Energy Union at length. This is the main subject on the agenda following the Commission's presentation, on 25 February, of the strategic framework for this major European integration project. The Energy Union aims to reinforce solidarity between the member states in energy security matters, integrate the markets and reinforce interconnections in order to make the free movement of energy the fifth European freedom, in full respect of the EU's climate objectives and smoothing the path to a low-carbon economy.
“We have to bring together our 28 markets into a single Energy Union. With political will, this can be done. We have seen that this is possible with the interconnections summit between France, Spain and Portugal in Madrid last week”, President Juncker stressed. “This is what we must do to put a stop to wastage in our energy landscape”, he said.
During the debate, the leader of the EPP group, Germany's Manfred Weber, highlighted the need to enter into partnerships with third countries, but also argued in favour of a “realistic” programme for the decarbonisation of the economy and the fight against climate change, in order to safeguard competitiveness. His French colleague Alain Lamassoure called upon the Council to “seize the opportunity of this global policy project”, after years of stalling. “This will be the fifth summit given over to energy in five years. Every time, there has been a massive leap in ambitions, but every time, Energy Europe retreats, because each country prioritises its own national ambitions”, he said.
The head of the S&D group, Italy's Gianni Pittella, underlined the importance of decarbonising Europe, calling for “CO2 emissions to be cut by at least 40% by 2030 and to go beyond this”, admitting however that “this will be harder in certain industrial regions”. His Belgium colleague, Kathleen Van Brempt, expressed her regrets that at this stage, the draft conclusions of the European Council “don't say a word about energy efficiency”. France's Pervenche Berès calls for a “clear signal on the carbon price”, lamenting the “Council's great reluctance to implement the stability reserve”.
On decarbonisation, “a policy which respects the principle of technological neutrality” is needed, said Poland's Andrzej Duda, on behalf of the ECR group. He went on to call for the emphasis to be placed on developing local energy sources.
On behalf of the GUE/NGL group, Germany's Gabriele Zimmer accused the Commission and the Council of “not taking account of the very good questions which have been asked”, such as access to safe and affordable energy and focusing mainly on the interests of the major energy groups rather than those of the European citizens. Zimmer also spoke out against any correlation between the TTIP and the Energy Union, specifically the use of the technique of fracking. Her Cypriot colleague, Neoklis Sylikiotis, called for the Energy Union to help fight energy poverty. “The GUE/NGL will oppose any Energy Union which will serve individual interests and make exclusion and inequality worse”, he insisted.
Speaking for the Greens/EFA, the German Green Rebecca Harms deplored the “reemergence of yesterday's ideas”, such as support for nuclear or coal, and the fact that insufficient emphasis has been laid on energy efficiency and renewable sources of energy.
On behalf of the Latvian Presidency, the Secretary of State for European Affairs, Zanda Kalnina-Lukasevica, welcomed a “convergence of opinions on European priorities” for the Energy Union. “I agree with those who have said that we must avoid the risks of energy poverty, but I do not agree when they say that the Commission's proposal will not allow us to achieve this result. I firmly believe that the Energy Union will help to push jobs and growth”, she said.
On the economic questions, which also come fairly high up the agenda of the European Council, President Juncker welcomed the announcement by Germany, Spain, France and Italy, against the backdrop of the political agreement in principle reached at the Council on Tuesday 10 March on the draft regulation to implement the future European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), of contributions to the financing guarantee.
“It would be great if all the other countries followed suit”, Juncker said. “Europe needs a solid financing guarantee. Without the €16 billion, we will not be able to secure the success of the investment plan” (which aims to raise €315 billion in private investments over three years), he said.
Also under the heading of economic matters, the Greek dossier returned to the fore several times during the debate. On behalf of the EPP, Weber called on Athens to remain a stable partner. “Our patience is not infinite and Greece has responsibilities to take”, stressed Weber, who went on to take a subtle swipe at France, calling on Paris “not to show that the large and small states have to behave (regarding reforms: Ed) in accordance with different criteria”. This stance earned Weber a sharp response from Sylikiotis, who asked the German MEP to “respect the decision of the Greek people”. “This is not a colonial Europe”, the Cypriot MEP pointed out, calling for an “end to neoliberal austerity policies”. “The Greek people will no longer accept orders from the international circle of creditors the Commission represents”, added the Greek MEP Notis Marias (ECR).
Again on the economic chapter, Belgium's Guy Verhofstadt, speaking on behalf of the ALDE group, argued in favour of a rapid end to roaming charges in mobile telephony. Verhofstadt called on the European Council to overturn the recent decision made by the ambassadors of the member states (Coreper) to block the decision on network neutrality and an end to roaming charges. “In India, there is net neutrality, in the United States roaming charges have been abolished. Why cannot we do this in Europe? This European Council will be a great success if the European leaders decide to overturn this decision and not to defend the interests of a few European businesses”, the former Belgian Prime Minister stressed.
On the external relations chapter, Ukraine will naturally be central to the discussions of the European Council. Verhofstadt took position on this dossier again, calling on the European Council to “show greater unity”. “I observe that there is absolute chaos at the Council. Some leaders are talking energy with (the Russian President Vladimir) Putin, others are saying that no sanctions against his regime are needed”, he criticised. Verhofstadt called on the Twenty-Eight to be “more proactive”, arguing in favour of a strategy providing for a possible reinforcement of sanctions, counterbalanced by a “package of positive measures” including visa liberalisation for young people, researchers and entrepreneurs, “a package which shows that the sanctions are targeted against Mr Putin's regime and not against the Russian people”. For the ECR, the UK MEP Ashley Fox urged the Council to tighten up the sanctions if Russia fails to respect the ceasefire, accusing Putin of “behaving like a tyrant from the 1930s”.
The question of Ukraine gave a number of MEPs the opportunity to return to the wish expressed last weekend by President Juncker, in an interview with the German weekly newspaper Welt am Sonntag, to set in place a European army “to show Russia that Europe is serious when it comes to defending the values of the EU”. This earned President Juncker a robust response from the leader of the British Eurosceptics (UKIP), Nigel Farage, on behalf of the EFDD group. “Mr Juncker is calling for militarisation at European level. This is already the case. We have a European Navy, European battle groups. (Former British prime minister) Tony Blair was right when he said that Europe is not a peace project, but a power project”, Farage explained. “We have poked the Russian bear with a stick and it is reacting, so we want to use this to create a European army. Without territorial ambitions, we have brought about the fall of a democratically elected leader in Ukraine, albeit a corrupt one. In Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya, we see that our intervention has only made things worse”, the UKIP MEP concluded. “The cornerstone of peace in Europe is NATO and any talk of a European army is extremely dangerous”, commented the Briton Ashley Fox, of the ECR group.
Lastly, the Libyan dossier, another item on the agenda of the European Council, was also discussed. The Vice-President of the Commission, Frans Timmermans, called for support for the formation of a government of national unity. On behalf of the S&D group, Pittella called for support for the High Representative of the EU, Federica Mogherini, to “find the right way to reconstitute political power in Libya by diplomatic means”. “We have to avoid anarchy in the country”, he concluded. (Emmanuel Hagry)