On Tuesday 24 October, President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker expressed regret at the low level of member states participation in the EU Trust Fund for Africa.
“We set up an emergency trust fund for Africa with an envelope of €1.8 billion in the - naive - hope that the member states would make exactly the same effort”, Juncker told a debate at the European Council of 19 and 20 October, adding that he had regularly called on the member states to “match their actions to their words”. The Commission has had to increase its share to €2.9 billion to offset the “considerable efforts” of the member states, which have fed in the princely sum of €175 million, Juncker said ironically. “This is scandalous”, he said. “Talking about Africa with tears in your eyes and not doing what you have committed to do is unacceptable”, the Commission president stressed.
In response to Juncker, Othmar Karas (EPP, Austria) said that it was not just a question of money but also of investment, development and external defence policy. “Yes, we need development aid, but we also need personnel and skills”, he added.
Going further on Turkey
Although Juncker did not refer to the fact that the heads of state or government had asked his institution to review Turkey's pre-accession fund (IPA), several MEPs did. On behalf of the EPP, Manfred Weber (Germany) said he was “in favour” of cutting the IPA, to “highlight the concerns regarding the changing situation in Turkey”. Kostas Chrysogonos (GUE/NGL, Greece) also welcomed the European Council's decision, as he feels that “Erdogan's regime is a long way from democracy”. The European Parliament's rapporteur on Turkey, Kati Piri (S&D, Netherlands) considers that the leaders should have worked on a strategy of anchoring Turkey to the EU, adding that the “right signal would be to use the IPA fund to help pro-democracy movements in Turkey”. This view is shared by Ska Keller (Greens/EFA, Germany) who, at a press conference, stressed the need to maintain funds for civil society.
“There is a contradiction in European policy in that we grant pre-accession funds and at the same time say that the human rights situation is not satisfactory”, said Mario Borghezio (ENF, Italy), during the debate. Although relatively few MEPs took the floor regarding Turkey, many members of Borghezio's party did, calling for an end to the accession negotiations. Pointing out that Ankara is in receipt of “considerable funding” to get on top of migration flows, the co-chair of the ENF, Nicolas Bay (France), argued the need to be “clear” and to state that “Turkey has no vocation to join the EU”. Several MEPs also raised the question of Cyprus.
Setting permanent structured cooperation in place quickly
Similarly, only a few MEPs reacted during the plenary session to the comments of President of the European Council Donald Tusk on defence. “The destabilisation around Europe has made us aware of the need to defend our territory. For this reason, we want to launch the permanent structured cooperation by the end of the year”, Tusk said. He argued that to protect the external borders, it is necessary to build a sustainable and effective model of financing on a larger scale than ever before, adding that this should be part of the discussions on the future multi-annual financial framework.
Victor Boştinaru (S&D, Romania) welcomed the progress in terms of defence. “Until a short time ago, national sovereignty was the logic. Under the current circumstances, the EU can no longer allow that”, he said. Weber called for the creation of a European “cyber-defence brigade”, as no country can defend itself from cyber-attacks alone. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant with Lucas Tripoteau)