Thursday 14 November Pressure is increasing from Germany to conclude the free trade agreement between the EU and the Latin American Mercosur bloc by December. Key politicians called to split the deal to circumvent French opposition, blaming a “misguided patriotism” of the French government. "The EU Commission must split the agreement into an EU-only trade part and a political part,” Markus Töns, German MP and speaker for trade policy for leading government party SPD (S&D), told Euractiv. This would allow the trade part to be adopted by a 'qualified majority' of member states. At a meeting with Commission President Ursula von der Leyen this Wednesday, French Prime Minister Michel Barnier doubled down on its opposition due to concerns over its agricultural sector and environmental protection. Meanwhile, the European Commission is hinting a political agreement could be reached before the year ends, of which the German government is also “firmly in favour”. Read more. European policymakers must step up efforts to integrate the single market for services to mitigate – or even prevent – the imposition of blanket tariffs by newly re-elected US President Donald Trump, analysts at one of Germany’s leading research centres said on Wednesday (13 November). Lisandra Flach, director at the Ifo Center for International Economics, told reporters in Brussels that integrating the EU’s services sector would not only revitalise the Union's flagging economy but could also render Trump less willing to follow through on his promise to impose duties of 20% on all US imports and 60% on Chinese goods. “Improving the market for services would make the European market way more attractive for US firms, and so would also decrease the willingness of Trump to impose tariffs,” she said. Read more. Wednesday 13 Novermber EU countries should prioritise swift, smaller-scale reforms rather than wait for unanimity to protect the economy from an increasingly aggressive US and China, former European Central Bank president Mario Draghi and French President Emmanuel Macron warned on Wednesday (13 November). “We must extend qualified majority voting into many fields and go by enhanced agreements,” whereby a few voluntary countries move quickly on specific reform options and lead others into following them, Draghi said. “My experience of the past few years shows that there are many divisions, viewpoints, and different senses of urgency on what to do,” he added – all of which will be exacerbated by courting newly-elected US president Donald Trump by member states such as Hungary and Italy. Read more.
Germany’s conservative chancellor hopeful Friedrich Merz (CDU/EPP) has signalled openness to reform the country’s constitutional deficit limit known as the ‘debt brake’. The constitutional clause has been a hotly-debated item in Germany and has contributed to the breakdown of the coalition government last week. Asked about a potential reform of the 'debt brake,' as called for by the current two remaining government parties – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's SPD (S&D) and Robert Habeck's Greens – Merz said that “only the first 20 articles of our Basic Law are unchangeable, everything else can of course be discussed." Read more.
The European People’s Party (EPP) will need time to assess the nomination of French commissioner-designate Stéphane Séjourné, a leading MEP for the European Parliament’s largest political family told Euractiv after the French centrist’s hearing on Tuesday. “He did not make any major error, there was no major controversy, but... he did not really offer many more details than he had offered in his written answers,” said EPP vice-president Siegfried Mureșan. “[EPP] members will need some time, and we will see if there's a need for further clarifications in the form of written questions,” he added. The EPP's assessment contrasted with that of the Greens/EFA group, which appreciated Séjourné's strongly pro-European approach. “We think he did fine," said a spokesperson for the group, which backed von der Leyen's re-election in July but is not formally part of her centrist parliamentary majority. Manon Aubry, co-chair of the Parliament's Left Group, offered a far more negative assessment. "I think he was completely disconnected from the [EU's] huge industrial needs," she said. Read more. Tuesday 12 November Italian commissioner-designate Raffaele Fitto fielded persistent questions from MEPs on Tuesday (12 November) on his political track record, with the positions he took as Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s minister chastised by some as in conflict with European values. Centre-left forces have questioned Ursula von der Leyen’s decision to grant such a position to a member of the far-right European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), a group that had not backed her in July. From his part, Fitto took every chance he could during his hearing on Tuesday to double down on his commitment to EU objectives, downgrading his national role to second ranking. “I want to avoid getting into the debate on personal political positions – also because I take it for granted that all of us – all the Commissioners – are going stay very far away from representing their member states’ interests and their political parties’ interest,” he said. Read more. Stéphane Séjourné told MEPs on Tuesday (12 November) he would strive to help Europe “master its own destiny” if confirmed as commissioner for prosperity and industrial strategy, pledging to protect all domestic sectors, from energy-intensive steel to clean tech. In an often fiery hearing that also featured several questions about the French centrist’s political “legitimacy,” the French centrist repeatedly emphasised that EU policymakers should step up efforts to ensure Europe’s “strategic autonomy” – a key goal of his beleaguered close friend and ally, French President Emmanuel Macron. "We have to secure our strategic autonomy because what is at stake is our ability to master our own destiny today," Séjourné said in his opening remarks. "Security of supply is one of the targets that will be set," he said, adding that "social and environmental standards" should also be "part of our discussion" on public procurement. Read more. Séjourné "won’t represent the interests of the French government,” French deputy minister for industry Marc Ferracci reassured Brussels ahead of the hearing of the designated Executive Vice-President for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy. This came amid suspicions that the 39-year-old, who, during part of his tenure at the European Parliament, was president of the liberal Renew group, maybe too close to Macron and thus may ultimately end up serving the interests of the Élysée rather than the Berlaymont. “What France expects is an ambitious view of what should be the European industrial policy,” Ferraci also said, arguing that trade, competition and industrial policy should all be “part of a global agenda”. Concerns about Séjourné’s fealty to the Élysée had not been eased by his written answers to MEPs’ questions last month, in which he expressed support for centralising financial market supervision. Read more. Six executive vice president nominees, including Raffaele Fitto and Teresa Ribera, are set to face intense MEP scrutiny in the last round of hearings on Tuesday (12 November) amid political groups' trade-offs and demands. According to Parliamentary sources, coordinator meetings on Italy’s hotly debated Fitto (Fratelli d’Italia/ECR), Spain’s Ribera (S&D), and potentially France's Stéphane Séjourné (Renew) could be tied together and postponed until after Hungary's nominee, Olivér Várhelyi’s (Patriots for Europe) assessment—along the lines of a political “hostage-taking” dynamic. Euractiv understands that the delay of the Parliament’s group coordinators' vote on Várhelyi from Monday (11 November) to Wednesday (13 November) seems to have caused a ripple effect, possibly pushing the confirmation vote during the day and ultimately to Wednesday. Read more. |
