Between dealing with the pandemic crisis and the "legally binding" dossiers, Germany has little room for manoeuvre in setting its priorities during its Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the second half of 2020.
For its return to the helm of the EU Council for the first time since 2007, Germany will have to “make a radical prioritisation and reduction of the issues”, it was explained in Berlin. It will be a crisis management presidency, Chancellor Angela Merkel announced this weekend (see EUROPE 12475/23).
In preparation for the ministerial cabinet meeting held on Wednesday, 29 April, German ministries revised, at a forced march, their work programmes which had been in preparation for the past 2 years.
“Climate protection, the Rule of law, social cohesion, digitisation and European sovereignty are becoming more important than ever to get out of the cyclone”, Minister of State for Europe Michael Roth summed up on Twitter. The programme seems even more pragmatic.
Exit minimum wage and bank control
As a result of the Covid-19 crisis, Berlin estimates that 70% of the meetings will not take place physically in the EU Council. Minimum wage issues or the reform of banking prudential rules resulting from the 'Basel III' accord, in particular, will have to wait for better days.
On the other hand, Germany is not losing sight of the plans for taxation of financial transactions and a common tax base (see EUROPE 12477/24).
Part of the remaining agenda is dictated by the European calendar. The conclusion of negotiations on post-Brexit relations between the EU and the UK, hoped for in early November, is part of this, as at this stage London refuses to extend the talks.
Sustainable recovery plan
The conclusion in June of the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2021-2027 will be all the more difficult as the financing of the Recovery Fund for reviving the European economy and its link with the European Green Deal (see EUROPE 12474/1, 12473/1) is now being added to it.
At this week's Petersberg Climate Dialogue (see EUROPE 12477/14), Mrs Merkel insisted that current aid should be invested “in sustainable energy technology”. A signal in favour of the 'green' recovery called for by The Netherlands and Denmark.
For the future German Presidency, the question of “both the budget entries and the spending arrangements” therefore arises, said Daniela Schwarzer, Director of the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP). The German position has already changed, since we are talking “not only about credits, but also about transfers”.
Defence of medical sovereignty
In this context, the environment remains a priority, but also the digitisation of the economy. German diplomats will have to go to great lengths to defend a “European cloud” or the creation of a database, particularly in the health sector, whereas Berlin has taken the path of very national projects with the Gaia-X "cloud" for companies and its application for tracking people infected by Covid-19.
Under pressure from its automotive or pharmaceutical industries, which are suffering from the breakdown of their supply chains, Berlin is not losing sight of industrial priorities and the recovery of the Internal market.
Its angle of attack, however, is changing. The major reform of competition law, which France had joined Germany in supporting before containment, is now being pushed into the background. On the other hand, the development of a “strategic capacity” in the field of health is taking centre stage, confirmed this week the Minister of the Economy, Peter Altmaier, after talks with his Italian and Spanish counterparts.
Dialogue with China
The evolution of the pandemic leaves open the continuation, at least in a virtual form, of the EU/China Summit initially scheduled to take place in Leipzig in September (see EUROPE 12448/20). This meeting was a high priority for Angela Merkel.
Germany must first get Europeans to speak with one voice about China's role in the current crisis, said Daniela Schwarzer.
Praised for its handling of the health crisis, the German government is coming into its Presidency stronger than expected a few months ago, the political scientist noted. On the other hand, “the situation could change between now and the fall if the pandemic experiences a second wave”, she said. (Original version in French by Nathalie Steiwer)