On Thursday 18 July, European Affairs Ministers discussed how to implement the European Council's strategic agenda in the sectoral configurations of the Council of the European Union, while discussions in Parliament on a strategic roadmap are at a standstill.
"The work on the implementation of the strategic agenda involves different Council formations", said the current President of the General Affairs Council, Tytti Tuppurainen. She stressed the importance, through this exercise, of increasing the "transparency" of the Council of the EU's work and bringing the European institution closer to the citizens.
The Finnish Presidency of the Council of the EU circulated a document detailing the timetable for discussions on the strategic agenda, culminating in the follow-up discussion to be held by European leaders at the end of October (see: http://bit.ly/2Y2yZOq ).
During the debate, Member States stressed the importance for the Council of the EU to take concrete action and recalled their own priorities, contained in the strategic agenda adopted at the end of June (see EUROPE 12279/1). The idea of a specific interinstitutional agreement to ensure the implementation of the EU's strategic priorities for the next five years was raised.
For France, the programme of the President-elect of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, "is in line" with the agenda of the Twenty-seven, whose key principles are "freedom, protection and progress". She raised the possibility of a citizen's meeting with the new European Commission.
"There should not be too many strategic agendas", Germany said, perhaps referring to the one that the post-Juncker Commission will promote and the aborted work of the European Parliament. Berlin agrees with Mrs von der Leyen on the need for Europe to implement the Pillar of Social Rights, to be a leader in the fight against climate change and to find a solution to the migration challenge.
For Hungary, it is the Council of the EU that ultimately decides. They stressed respect for the notion of subsidiarity and warned against double standards in monitoring respect for the rule of law (see EUROPE 12299/7). Spain considered that the internal organisation of the next Commission should reflect the European strategic agenda. And the Czech Republic to ask the Council of the EU to ensure that the European Parliament remains a "constructive partner" in future legislative work.
Open wounds among environmentalists at the European Parliament. In the European Parliament, the failure of the negotiations on the pro-European strategic roadmap between the four main groups - EPP, S&D, Renew Europe, Greens/EFA - has left its mark.
Fourth in power in the European Parliament, but without a presence at the European Council, environmentalists are particularly bitter. From the moment the Twenty-eight validated the appointment of Mrs von der Leyen, "there is no longer any roadmap", Yannick Jadot (Greens/EFA, France) said on Wednesday 17 July.
According to the co-chairman of the Green Group, Belgian Philippe Lamberts, Plan A - to reach a roadmap for influencing European Council decisions on appointments to senior European positions upstream - has failed, as the S&D and RE groups said they would not support the candidacy of Germany's Manfred Weber, the Spitzenkandidate of the European People's Party. Plan B - making a vote on a candidate for President of the Commission conditional on the acceptance of a previously agreed roadmap - "did not work either, as the three groups said they would vote for Mrs von der Leyen", he added, deploring a "missed opportunity".
Remaining pragmatic, the Greens are not totally closing the door to cooperation with the other three groups to form a stable pro-European majority. It is up to these three groups to decide whether they want to engage in a dialogue with us, according to Mr Lamberts, making any cooperation conditional on the appointment of "four European Commissioners" within the ‘von der Leyen’ Commission. He added: "If they want us, let them pay! If we are wanted, then we are considered an equal partner (...). As none of the top jobs were obtained, then this should be compensated at the Commission level".
On Wednesday, Frenchman François-Xavier Bellamy, on behalf of the EPP, said that the reaction of environmentalists to "possible arbitrations" was "very surprising". "If you want to be part of a common project, you join it. Otherwise, we cannot demand things", he added, noting a "fragility of the Greens" linked to their absence from the European Council. According to him, each group will present its individual priorities during the hearings of the Commissioners-designate in the European Parliament.
Asked the same day by EUROPE, S&D Group President Iratxe García Pérez expressed the Social Democrats' readiness to continue discussions with the other political groups.
Among the Liberals, Frenchman Stéphane Séjourné hoped that it would still be possible to "unblock things" and "reconnect with the Greens after the election" by the European Parliament of Mrs von der Leyen (see EUROPE 12297/1). He noted that "five points contained in the draft coalition agreement with four political groups had already been taken up by Mrs von der Leyen": the migration issue, a European Climate Bank, the objective of a carbon-free economy, a conference on the future of the EU, the introduction of a minimum wage in all Member States. "Afterwards, the devil is in the detail," he agreed. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion with Lucas Tripoteau)