The German ambassador to the EU, Michael Clauss, explained on Thursday 4 June that the German Presidency of the EU Council, which will run from 1 July to 31 December, will consist of three phases.
Presenting the programme of the 13th German EU Council Presidency at a videoconference organised by the EPC, Mr Clauss said that phase 1 from 1 July would focus on reaching agreement on the multiannual financial framework 2021-2027 and the recovery fund (see EUROPE 12494/1, 12494/2). He hoped to have an agreement on this by the summer break. “This is going to be extremely difficult, but it is possible”, he said, adding that all the Member States’ ambassadors to the EU had stressed the urgency of an agreement.
However, Mr Clauss did not hide the many difficulties to be overcome: the volume of the MFF, the type of support in the recovery plan (grants or loans), sharing funds between Member States or the conditionalities that could be attached to them. He added that it reaching an agreement on own resources would also be complicated.
For the ambassador, the European Council meeting on 19 June by videoconference will provide an opportunity for a first exchange of views (see EUROPE 12498/6). He hoped for a meeting with the physical presence of the leaders “probably in early July”.
For the ambassador, phase 2 of the German EU Council Presidency will be dominated by future relations with the United Kingdom. He hoped for an agreement that could be confirmed by the October European Council. “An agreement is possible, but the UK must take a more realistic approach", Mr Clauss said, recalling that it was not possible to have both full sovereignty and full access to the internal market. “The Brexit issue will absorb most of the political attention in September and October”, he added.
Mr Clauss said that the German EU Council Presidency could be described as a success if an agreement on the MFF and recovery plan and on Brexit was reached in the second half of 2020.
Finally, in phase 3, the issue of migration or the Green Deal should be at the top of the German Presidency’s agenda. On migration, the ambassador stressed the need for the Commission’s proposal – expected in June – to be accepted as a basis for negotiation. “If not, we’re not going anywhere. I do not expect the German Presidency to close the file, which is too complex and difficult. [...] But it is realistic to expect that we will have an agreement on the way forward on a political roadmap”, he explained.
Asked about the Conference on the Future of Europe, the ambassador said that it was important for Germany, but the date of its launch was not yet clear. “It’s hard to see the Conference starting before the pandemic is over and to imagine it without the possibility of having physical meetings”, he said.
A Presidency in times of pandemic
In addition, Mr Clauss recalled that the Presidency will be organised in a special way. Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, “this is not a Presidency that has been prepared for years”, he explained.
And while meetings in July should still take place mainly by videoconference, the ambassador hoped that from September onwards “we will be able to have meetings at the political level with the physical presence of people from the capitals”. He warned, however, that the rules of social distancing would last at least until the end of the Presidency. As a result, according to him, the German Presidency will only be able to carry out around 30% of the meetings it could have organised under normal circumstances. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)