Repeating the main themes of his speech at Charles University in Prague in August 2022 (see EUROPE 13009/1), German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Tuesday 9 May advocated a “geopolitical Europe” that would stand up to Vladimir Putin’s “imperialist megalomania”, open to the world by forging partnerships between equals with Africa and Latin America, and capable of reforming itself before expanding to the Western Balkans as well as Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia.
In Strasbourg, in the hemicycle of the European Parliament, Mr Scholz noted the contrast between the celebration of Europe, where “war between our peoples has become unimaginable” and the tanks marching through Red Square in Moscow the same day to commemorate the Soviet victory against Nazi Germany. He said Russia’s desire to change borders by force was “unacceptable”, assuring that Germany would support Ukraine as long as necessary.
The European Union, which in a few years’ time will represent “barely 5% of the world’s population”, must therefore assert its “geopolitical” dimension in a “multipolar” world. According to the German Chancellor, it should build “an integrated European defence economy” within NATO and help rebuild a “prosperous and democratic” Ukraine. He echoed the EU’s characterisation of its relationship with China as a partner, competitor and rival power.
A geopolitical Europe, according to Mr Scholz, must be able to fight poverty, ensure food security and combat climate change. It also means being able to guarantee reliable supply chains, especially for critical raw materials, and signing “fair” trade agreements with supplier countries where the first processing of these materials would take place locally, he added. He warned that if we do not conclude trade agreements with “Mercosur, Mexico, India, Indonesia, Australia and Kenya” soon, other countries “will dictate their rules with lower social and environmental standards”.
The Chancellor called for the EU to keep its promises to the candidate countries. He saw enlargement as an economic interest, a response to Russia’s military aggression in Ukraine, while hoping that the candidate countries would continue their reform efforts before joining the EU. Otherwise, he said, Europe would lose influence in its immediate neighbourhood.
However, to welcome new countries, Europe will have to reform its internal functioning. Mr Scholz reiterated the German position in favour of decisions by qualified majority of Member States in the EU Council in “foreign affairs and taxation” (see EUROPE 13175/8). He suggested that the European Commission should be empowered to launch an infringement procedure after every violation of democracy and fundamental rights in the EU.
The German Social Democrat also called for solutions to “old divisive issues” such as the management of migration flows. The European policy on this matter must allow “better management of irregular migration without betraying our values” and respond to the “urgent need for labour” in order to cut off those who play on fear, he said.
Several representatives of political groups criticised the bad signals sent to Brussels by the German government coalition’s hesitations and about-faces on thorny European dossiers, notably on the end of internal combustion engines by 2035 (see EUROPE 13155/10) and the additional safeguards on public finance consolidation demanded by German Finance Minister Christian Lindner (see EUROPE 13148/10).
What is Berlin’s position on the reform of the Stability Pact? (see other news) - asked German Manfred Weber, on behalf of the EPP group. On this point, Mr Scholz said that his country had risen to the socio-economic challenge during the Covid-19 pandemic, when “no one was left behind”. “But this also applies to [budgetary] stability”, he said. On the one hand, he referred to the government coalition agreement that “no EU country should be plunged into a new austerity crisis” and, on the other, called for “an end to the permanent increase in [public] debt”.
On behalf of the Greens/EFA group, his compatriot Terry Reintke criticised the Chancellor’s laissez-faire attitude while Mr Lindner's liberal FDP party questioned Germany’s credibility. Our country must learn from the mistakes made with Russia on energy so as not to make them again with China, she said. The co-chair of The Left group, German Martin Schirdewan, criticised the continued enrichment of the richest and the super-profits made by companies while citizens face record inflation. “Europe deserves better than an increasingly selfish Germany”, he said of the reform of European fiscal rules.
Gunnar Beck (ID, German) described the folly of Germany suffering from the “saviour syndrome” on issues such as Greece’s debt, climate or migration.
See Mr Scholz’s speech: https://aeur.eu/f/6sp (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)