The EU27 Ministers for European affairs, meeting informally in Arles (France) on Thursday 3 and Friday 4 March, were able, despite the war in Ukraine dominating their session (see related article), to discuss the situation of the rule of law in the EU and the work of the Conference on the Future of Europe, which was initially on the agenda.
The discussion on the Rule of law was intended to be “forward-looking” and disconnected from ongoing procedures, such as those on Article 7 of the Treaty or the regulation on the conditionality of European funds, explained the French Secretary of State Clément Beaune at the end of the meeting.
For the Frenchman, this discussion on respect for the rule of law has taken on greater importance with the war in Ukraine, because “what the Ukrainians are fighting for is this democratic and European model” which must therefore be defended.
But “there were different sensitivities” about these different EU tools on the Rule of law, he acknowledged, having nevertheless retained from this discussion a “willingness to make these different instruments work”, “particularly this conditionality mechanism”.
The French Presidency will support a rapid implementation of this regulation, added Mr Beaune.
For the Secretary of State, there is no contradiction in fighting for the Rule of law, in this case in Poland and Hungary, while showing solidarity with these two countries faced with the war in Ukraine and recognising their efforts in dealing with the massive influx of refugees. The “strength of democracy is to have these debates”, even in emergency situations, he added.
‘Rethinking’ priorities for the Conference on the Future of Europe
With regard to the work of the Conference on the Future of Europe, the Frenchman also said that the war in Ukraine was leading to a “rethinking” on the topics to be discussed and was speeding up a reflection on Europe’s dependence on Russia in terms of energy, but also on the need to strengthen its military, technological and agri-food independence.
“There are very rapid changes of mindset in some Member States”, noted Clément Beaune, referring to the German government on defence policy. And “this will be accelerated in the coming days, weeks and months”.
It will not be a question of “making Europe an autarchy but of being able to avoid being dependent”. “This will be [on the agenda] at next week’s summit”, the French official also stressed, referring to the EU27 meeting scheduled for Versailles. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)