Officially, 2022 was the European Year of Youth. Were you aware of that? Do you remember reading anything about it in the press?
The European Commission made the official proposal on 14 October 2021. The European Parliament and the Council of the EU narrowly adopted their joint decision on 22 December. At the time, the chair of the parliamentary committee on education and culture, Sabine Verheyen, made the observation that the initiative was largely unheard of. The minimal financing for the Year stood at eight million euros, with no clear answers as to its origins. The act, punctuated by 33 recitals on the importance of European youth, set out four objectives: to give prospects to young people once again, to give them resources to act, including via socio-educational initiatives, to help them improve their understanding of public policies at EU level and at all other levels and, finally, to include youth policy measures in all relevant fields of EU policy.
In accordance with the accepted methodology, a website was set up for the Year, allowing young people to express themselves, find out information, particularly what the EU is already doing for them (Erasmus, etc…). An interactive map, generated by national coordinators, compiled a list of some 9000 events held in… 55 different countries. Everything was added, irrespective of the size or renown of the event. Activities that happen every year regardless were included among the achievements of the Year. The Conference on the Future of Europe was credited to the Year and vice versa. The media paid the whole thing little attention, except when a mistake was made in the communication campaign: a young woman wearing a veil appeared in a video, stressing the urgent need to discuss European values and the future of inclusion; many people saw this as promoting Islam and submissiveness of women. In the ensuing row, the Commission was forced to take the video down.
On 30 August, Euractiv gave its verdict in an article entitled: “Overlooked and tokenised: Europe’s Year of Youth falls short”, quoting statements made by MEPs and the president of the European Youth Forum. In November, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on the achievements of the Year, calling for young people to be fully involved in drafting policy and decision-making in the EU, for precise information to be provided about the financing of the Year and for it to be extended until 9 May 2023 (see EUROPE 13070/25). Notwithstanding, the closing event took place on 6 December… at the European Parliament, where it was attended by 700 people, many of them youths.
The Parliament also objected to the lateness of the Commission’s proposal, which made it hard to get the project off the ground. For the European Year of Rail in 2021, the institution got down to business a lot earlier (March 2020), but the joint decision of the European Parliament and the Council took until 23 December. The official launch was held on 29 March 2021, but the general public remained largely unaware of the initiative for several months more (see EUROPE 12729/1). From 2 September to 7 October, the ‘Connecting Europe Express’ journeyed across Europe, stopping off in some hundred towns and cities (see EUROPE 12777/7). This spectacular initiative by the French railway company SNCF saved the Year from total failure, although the problems (shortage of night rolling stock, lack of interoperability, ticket prices) were not resolved in any way that might have stimulated passenger numbers. It was fairly easy to blame everything on Covid-19, however. There was one positive to draw from it: when the Year reached its final destination in February 2022, the young ‘Europe’s Rail’ was set up to work for more affordable and efficient rail transport (see EUROPE 12895/31).
A European Year of Skills awaits us in 2023; this was announced in the state of the union speech on 14 September and followed by a proposal of the Commission on 12 October (see EUROPE 13041/20). At the time of writing, the Parliament and Council have yet to reach their decision, which will spark further regrets over the project’s late start and underperformance.
It was not always thus. The decision on the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue (a fundamental issue that has now fallen from fashion in the Euro-sphere), for instance, was made in December 2006, although the year would not begin until January 2008, when it had a specific budget of 10 million euros, three million of which was available from 2007. The well-prepared final result was an undeniable success.
But none of this detracts from the fact of the matter, which is that the 2022 European Year was actually the Year of War and Corruption.
On 24 February, our young people were experiencing war in Europe. With anxiety already running high amid the pandemic, climate change, uncertainty about employment, even the risk of poverty, at least young people had always been able to take peace for granted. Despite the warnings from Washington and large-scale Russian military manoeuvres, most European leaders felt that it was not in Putin’s interests to attack Ukraine, a country on friendly terms with the EU, but the logic of a dictator is not always guided by reason. Over there, or rather on our doorstep, other young people were going out and risking their lives to defend their homeland. The unimaginable was happening, turning our perspectives on their heads, including the institutions’ optimistic and wholesome projects for the next generation. War crimes and mass graves, waves of refugees, military and humanitarian aid, rearmament, repeated sanctions, energy crisis, inflation: this is the new backdrop and it will not be raised for a long time to come.
Yet this year has been marked by reinforced solidarity within the European Union, which has been manifested from week to week. The attractiveness of the bloc has been confirmed by several accession applications (Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia and Kosovo). The policy of enlargement towards the Western Balkans has re-awoken from its sleep. The Green Pact has suffered no detriment: quite the reverse, as investments in renewable energies will only increase. A quest to regain our economic independence is underway. All this being said, however, the EU continues to lack generosity, as attested by the disgraceful treatment of non-European migrants, seemingly validating public opinion.
This year, 2022, has also been one of corruption: not that this is anything new, of course, but in terms of its decisive and omnipresent nature. The regulation on conditionality linked to the rule of law has theoretically been in practice since January 2021, but the related guidelines were not published until 3 March 2022 by the Commission, taking account of judgments of the Court of Justice of the EU. Why was it such a struggle? Because the existing instruments (article 7 TEU, Court of Auditors of the EU, OLAF, etc.) were inadequate to counter embezzlement of a State and systemic nature. To protect the EU budget, the Commission proposed to suspend certain Community funding under the cohesion policy earmarked for Hungary, in the amount of 6.3 billion euros, which the Council of the EU agreed upon on 15 December (see EUROPE 13085/8). This sword of Damocles will hang by its thread until the necessary reforms have been undertaken to preclude breaches of the rule of law.
But Hungary by no means has any monopoly on corruption in the EU, but since July 2021, many member states have adopted strict anti-corruption strategies. According to the 2022 report on the rule of law in the EU, which was published by the Commission in July, the situation in Bulgaria and Greece remains of concern for high-level corruption, but also, due to the considerable amount of time taken by investigations and prosecutions, in Malta, the Czech Republic and Spain. In the meantime, according to a special Eurobarometer survey on the subject published this year, 68% of EU citizens consider that corruption is widespread in their country and 41% take the view that it is on the rise.
The Netherlands’ recent veto on Bulgaria joining the Schengen zone was also based on risks related to corruption (see EUROPE 13085/5 and 13086/33).
As for the accession candidate countries, be they from the Western Balkans or Eastern Europe, the fight against corruption is ever-present on the list of reforms to undertake. This was the case when the Council agreed to grant Bosnia & Herzegovina candidate status on 13 December (see EUROPE 13083/24). The next day, when adopting a report on Georgia, the European Parliament called upon the authorities of the country to step up the fight against corruption (see EUROPE 13084/12), which was quite ironic as the institution had itself been rocked by revelations of serious corruption on 9 December.
The mainstream press and our agency (see EUROPE 13082/1) largely followed the tale of ‘Qatargate’ as it is known, even though Morocco may also have been involved. Onlookers have fluctuated between indignation (1.5 million euros would have put roofs over the heads of quite a few freezing migrants!) and mockery (all those suitcases stuffed full of money being shunted about by daddy, his daughter and her boyfriend, what a bunch of absolute amateurs, not quite Bonnie and Clyde, are they!). We cannot help but be impressed by the cynicism of the logo of the NGO ‘Fight Impunity’, the baby of former MEP Panzeri, a would-be white knight riding to defend a cause that has at times counted Bernard Cazeneuve, Emma Bonino, Dimitris Avramopoulos and Federica Mogherini as its temporary followers. Where will it all end, because when even MEP Marc Tarabella is worried, this means the entire southern European social democratic circle is seriously going to need to get its house in order.
This has obviously had repercussions for the entire European Parliament. At the very top, a breathtaking gut reaction: “the European Parliament is under attack” (in this day and age, that reads as though a bomb had been lobbed at one of its buildings). “Democracy is under attack” (wow! The Qataris are really going for it!). “Our entire way of life is under attack” (well yes, the European way of life must be protected and not promoted!).
With emotions running high, the Parliament hurriedly adopted a mighty resolution on 15 December, almost unanimously, punishing Qatar and announcing a raft of internal reforms (see EUROPE 13085/20). This panic was not put on. The members of the European Parliament, intoxicated by their membership of the foremost institution of the EU and the most democratic, felt that they were accountable only to their voters and their internal matters were not subject to checks and balances as it is they who carry out any checks and balances. But with 18 months to go until the next European elections, the risk of eroded legitimacy is a very real one. The Parliament, which likes to preach public morality, has too many black sheep to be that good a shepherd. Hoist by its own petard.
And now the winter solstice has arrived. Our television screens showed Vladimir Putin decorating the leaders of republics that are now Russian, but where Ukrainian forces are advancing. The scene was kitsch and surreal, with Vladimir looking like the love child of Ubu Roi and Nero with his fiddle. President Zelenskyy, meanwhile, was on the ground in Bakhmut, among his fighting forces. Internationally recognised as ‘personality of the year’, he is the very embodiment of courage and sincerity – a truly inspirational model for young people.
Rather than trying to sell young people a Europe of platitudes, positivity or ‘bling-bling’, the EU institutions would on this occasion be far better advised to keep a low profile, following the tragic example set from among its ranks. And if it does anything to help get to the bottom of this tragedy of its own making, then 2022 will have been the European Year of Youth after all.
Renaud Denuit