The multiannual budget, the Rule of law, preparations for the next European Council, etc. The European Affairs Ministers will debate a range of topics on Tuesday 17 November by videoconference and are likely to discuss the fate of the multiannual budget and the Recovery Plan after Hungary and Poland vetoed the package on Monday 16 November (see related article).
On the Rule of law, they will examine five member countries on the basis of the Commission’s first annual report on the Rule of law in the EU-27, published on 30 September (see EUROPE 12571/5).
They will examine the situation regarding the independence of the judiciary, freedom of the media, the fight against corruption, and the overall balance of power in Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, and Estonia.
The discussion is expected to last 30 minutes per country, according to another diplomatic source, who predicts “a frank, open and constructive discussion”. “However, there are two Member States that continue to say that there is no legal basis for this discussion based on the Commission’s report”, the source added, without openly naming Poland and Hungary.
In October, the ministers discussed the Commission’s annual report in more detail. And they were due, in principle, to hold two more hearings on the Rule of law with Poland and Hungary in December, this time under the Treaty’s Article 7 procedure.
However, this agenda has not been confirmed, as the pandemic may make a physical meeting impossible, and it has always been understood that Article 7 hearings cannot take place by videoconference. There is “no decision on the agenda yet”, a diplomatic source said on Monday 16 November.
That said, one can imagine that the controversy with these two countries over the Recovery Plan and the multiannual budget and the blockage by the two ambassadors to the EU on 16 November make these hearings even more unlikely (see separate news item).
Summit preparation, enlargement, and antisemitism
Other topics on the European Affairs Ministers’ agenda include the agenda for the next European Council on 10 and 11 December, including climate change, the fight against terrorism, and the situation in the Eastern Mediterranean and relations with Turkey.
Enlargement is also on the agenda for this EU Council meeting. The German EU Council Presidency will also report on the progress of accession negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania. “We are still working towards the adoption of the first intergovernmental conferences and negotiating boxes before the end of the year”, a European source said. However, “at this stage, there is no agreement on the text for the negotiating box. Don’t expect it to happen tomorrow”, added another source.
The negotiations have been difficult. The Bulgarian Foreign Minister, Ekaterina Zakharieva, made it clear on 15 November that her country would oppose the adoption of the framework with North Macedonia, despite German mediation efforts. “Bulgaria is saying ‘no’ at the beginning of the negotiations; we are not saying ‘no’ to North Macedonia’s accession to the EU”, she told BTV. According to a European source, Bulgaria wants its demands to be reflected in the negotiating text, which is difficult to accept for the other Member States, because they do not want additional cross-compliance, and the amended framework could be rejected by Skopje, which must also agree to it.
With regard to Albania, the country “has made a lot of progress”, but has not met all the conditions set out in the March EU Council conclusions for holding its first intergovernmental conference, one source explained.
On other topics, the EU ministers will also discuss antisemitism in the EU, as well as the priorities of the Portuguese Presidency for the ‘European Semester’.
With regard to antisemitism, the German EU Council Presidency is working on a declaration to be adopted at the ‘Justice and Home Affairs’ Council in December, according to one of our two sources.
It was Hungary that called for this political discussion on the subject. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic, Camille-Cerise Gessant and Agathe Cherki)