On Jan. 24, the EU Commission is set to unveil a package of measures for economic security. However, the eagerly awaited element, the proposed law on so-called outbound investment screening, is expected to be missing. Instead, it is reported that it will remain a non-binding white paper in Brussels.
In its June strategy paper, the Commission expressed concerns that not only exports but also investments by European companies could lead to the outflow of know-how related to security-sensitive technologies to third countries. Therefore, it announced a proposal on how foreign investments in specific technology fields such as artificial intelligence, semiconductor technology and quantum computing should be regulated. Companies would then be required to report planned investments to government authorities. China, in particular, has been frequently mentioned in this context.
The US government urged Europeans to take such a step. US President Joe Biden ordered controls on US foreign investments, especially in microelectronics, during the summer and sought allies. However, the EU Commission encountered broad resistance in the business sector and many member states during consultations on the plans. Associations criticized the restrictions on entrepreneurial decision-making and the introduction of new bureaucracy. It is rumored that Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is now yielding to this pressure.
“Protect, strengthen, prepare” is the motto Belgium has chosen for its six-month EU Council Presidency. The planned expansion by 2030, including Ukraine, Moldova and other Western Balkan countries, is intended to make the European Union larger and stronger, according to the program of the new Council Presidency.
However, the lengthy and intricate accession process could initially weaken and hinder the Union. Each step must be unanimously approved by all 27 EU member states. Additionally, the EU itself is not prepared for expansion; it needs to initiate and implement several contentious and costly reforms.
The Belgian Council Presidency now faces the challenging task of initiating both processes: the accession negotiations decided in December, initially planned with Ukraine and Moldova, and the EU reforms. A few weeks after the EU summit in December 2023, the roadmap is slowly taking shape.
Firstly, the new Council Presidency will address pending EU laws, announced Belgian Permanent Representative Willem Van de Voorde in Brussels. The expansion will only be tackled from March onwards. For Ukraine and Moldova, the “operational phase” of accession talks will begin. This phase comes with many challenges.
Both countries must first implement pending reforms. The EU Commission has formulated seven conditions for Ukraine, of which four have already been fulfilled. Top priorities on the to-do list include:
In March, the Brussels authorities will present a report on the implementation of reforms and the fulfillment of conditions. If the report is positive and EU states agree on a negotiation framework, actual accession talks can begin. A unanimous decision of the Council is also required for the start of the so-called accession conference, Van de Voorde stated.
This provides Hungary, in particular, the opportunity to delay the start. As the opening and closing of all 35 accession chapters must happen by consensus, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán could potentially veto the process 70 times. Abstaining at the EU summit in December is no guarantee that negotiations will proceed smoothly, according to Brussels.
However, the Belgian EU Council Presidency is not discouraged by this – quite the opposite: It is pushing forward. “Viktor Orbán has understood that there is also a limit to the blockade,” Van de Voorde remains optimistic. Belgium will strive for swift negotiations while simultaneously addressing EU reforms. The Belgian roadmap for internal renewal, however, remains relatively vague.
Only in June, after intensive consultations, will Belgium present a “roadmap” for potential reforms. Unlike the past focus on “deepening” the EU and its institutions during expansion, this roadmap primarily aims to secure the EU’s operational capability. Old and new members should not hinder but ideally strengthen the EU.
However, the 27 members are already struggling to meet their self-imposed expectations. At their last summit, the EU failed in its attempt to supplement the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) and allocate 50 billion euros for Ukraine. Orbán vetoed the proposal, and now a special summit on Feb. 1 is expected to address the issue. If the Hungarian Prime Minister says “no” again, trouble is looming.
Disputes over money are likely to arise even without Orbán. It is already clear that the budget must be expanded if expansion occurs. According to an EU internal study quoted by the Financial Times, if nine countries join (in addition to Ukraine and Moldova, also Georgia and six Balkan states), the MFF would need to be increased by 256.8 billion euros.
While Belgium does not explicitly endorse this figure, Prime Minister Alexander De Croo has already advocated for a higher EU budget, partly financed by new resources. In an interview with Le Soir, he also emphasized the need for new priorities. It is difficult to explain that most money goes to cohesion and agriculture, said the liberal politician.
This puts De Croo at odds with countries like France and Italy, but also with “frugal” states such as the Netherlands and Germany. However, decisions on the future MFF are not expected during the Belgian Presidency. Instead, a “strategic agenda” is intended to be the final outcome, outlining priorities for the coming years.
Expansion and EU reform are likely to be at the top of the agenda. The Belgian Council Presidency aims to lay the foundations for a larger and stronger EU by June, with implementation likely to follow afterward – under Hungarian leadership, ironically.
The compromise on the AI Act did not bring the desired outcome for Parliament. The FDP, led by shadow rapporteur Svenja Hahn, especially opposes the agreement on the controversial topic of biometric recognition in public spaces outlined in the current legislative text. Hahn finds it “unspeakable” that the Spanish Council Presidency ensured that the final legislative text no longer corresponds to the trilogue agreement in crucial points.
This “misunderstanding” occurred because the agreement, after the marathon negotiations on the night of Dec. 9, was based on verbal agreements. The corresponding text, available in excerpts to Table.Media, was only received in writing by the parties on Dec. 21. Reporters Dragoș Tudorache (Renew) and Brando Benifei (S&D) apparently did not insist forcefully enough on written confirmation at the crucial moment.
The discussion on biometric recognition in public spaces took up the majority of the negotiation time. The Parliament wanted to completely ban real-time biometric recognition and allow post-processing only under strict conditions and for serious offenses.
In the current text version, it remains unclear when biometric identification is no longer considered “real-time” but “post-processing”, according to Hahn. Almost nothing is left of the very restrictive conditions for deployment, such as prior judicial authorization. Hahn sees this as a threat to civil rights, as even minor offenses could be tracked using facial recognition.
This is also the opinion of the organization European Digital Rights (EDRi). “We have been monitoring the issue of biometric recognition in public spaces in member states for years and have seen that they are continually pushing the boundaries,” says Ella Jakubowska, Senior Policy Advisor at EDRi, to Table.Media. “We saw the AI Act as an opportunity to contain this, thanks to the strong position of Parliament.” For example, France plans to use the technology at the Olympic Games.
But now, governments have received a blank check to “turn our faces and bodies into walking barcodes“, according to Hahn’s view. Governments worldwide could take the EU as an example that biometric surveillance in public spaces is acceptable. “Such profound intrusions into privacy have no place in a democratic society,” says Jakubowska.
EDRi has collected examples from the past that are supposed to show what will be possible in the future if the AI Act comes in its current version. Two of these examples:
Could the AI Act still fail in the Parliament vote due to the regulation on biometric recognition? The other parties are currently not willing to reopen the compromise regarding Article 29 Paragraph 6a. As it stands now, the FDP will reject the law in the vote. However, this does not apply to the entire Renew faction, to which the rapporteur Dragoș Tudorache belongs, among others. The same goes for S&D. However, it is not ruled out that civil rights-oriented parliamentarians from these factions may ultimately reject the law.
There could also be resistance in the Council. Rumors that the German government wrote a letter to the Spanish Council Presidency rejecting the compromise were denied by both the responsible Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Volker Wissing’s Ministry of Digital Affairs. However, it is unclear whether Germany will accept the compromise. Too many ministries with different views want to have a say, including Interior Minister Nancy Faser and Consumer Protection Minister Steffi Lemke.
Although the coalition agreement states, “Biometric recognition in public spaces and automated state scoring systems through AI must be ruled out under European law,” it is unlikely that the German government will let the compromise fail at this point.
For example, Wissing could veto the almost equally contentious decision on how General Purpose AI models (GPAI Models) should be regulated. Here, resistance could also come from France. President Emmanuel Macron has made no secret that he is not happy with the compromise. He said the law poses a risk that European technology companies will lag behind those from the US and China.
How the German government plans to reconcile the various interests is unclear. It wants to examine the text first. Officially, it has not yet received it, as the details are currently being finalized in technical negotiations. The Belgian Council Presidency plans to send the text on Jan. 19. Then there is little time for examination because the Permanent Representatives are expected to take a position on Jan. 24.
If they give their approval, legal experts and legal linguists will have several weeks to translate the text correctly into all 24 official languages of the EU. Voting in the plenary and the Council could then take place at the end of February or the beginning of March.
Stéphane Séjourné will be France’s new foreign minister, according to the office of President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday. Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire and Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin are also expected to remain in their current positions.
The biggest surprise in the cabinet reshuffle, however, is the appointment of conservative politician Rachida Dati, a close ally of former President Nicolas Sarkozy. She will become France’s minister of culture. rtr
Aircraft and ships were used in the early Friday morning Yemeni time to bombard sites used for launching drones and anti-ship missiles. US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak described the action as a necessary step to contain the danger to human lives and international trade.
Since mid-November, the Huthis, supported by Iran, have repeatedly targeted drones and anti-ship missiles at container freighters and tankers passing the Yemeni coast on their way to or from the Suez Canal. They cited their support for Hamas militants in the war against Israel as the reason. In response, numerous shipping companies had suspended their route through the Red Sea for their vessels, opting to send freighters on the longer route around Africa.
According to US government officials, the operation, supported by Australia, Bahrain, Canada and the Netherlands, targeted numerous “very precisely selected objectives” with precision munitions to avoid civilian casualties. Detailed information on the number and success of the mission was not initially available from Washington. The UK Ministry of Defence stated that British Eurofighter Typhoon jets, launched from Cyprus, attacked a drone launch site in Bani in northwest Yemen and the airfield of Abbs, from where cruise missiles had been launched.
The attack was independent of the “Operation Prosperity Guardian” mission in which warships from several nations, under US leadership, protect commercial ships from attacks, according to government sources in Washington. Simultaneously, but separate from the airstrikes, the White House released a joint statement from 10 countries, including Germany. In it, the Huthis were once again urged to cease their attacks on maritime traffic. If they continue their actions, they will be responsible for the consequences.
Regardless of the attempt by the USA and the UK to halt the threat posed by Huthi militants in Yemen through airstrikes, the EU’s plans for its own mission to protect maritime traffic in the Red Sea are taking shape. On Tuesday, the ambassadors of member states in the Political and Security Committee (PSK) are expected to consider an action plan that envisages the deployment of warships, according to the security policy Brussels news portal Bruxelles 2. An existing mission under French leadership to protect ships in the Strait of Hormuz is to be expanded for this purpose.
The “Crisis Management Concept” developed in Brussels, according to Bruxelles 2, envisions expanding the “European Maritime Surveillance Mission in the Strait of Hormuz” (Mission européenne de surveillance maritime dans le détroit d’Ormuz, EMASOH), established in 2020, to include the Red Sea and the Bab el Mandeb, the link between the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, and thus the Suez Canal. Since November, Huthi militants supported by Iran have been attacking commercial ships in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen to support Hamas militants in the war against Israel. Just on Wednesday, US and UK warships repelled the largest attack to date with drones and anti-ship missiles against container freighters.
While the USA has launched a coalition of the willing called “Operation Prosperity Guardian” to combat these attacks, only a few European countries have joined so far. Instead, the EU initially attempted to expand the tasks of its Atalanta anti-piracy mission off the Horn of Africa, which failed due to Spain’s resistance. A new EU mission could, however, rely on more approval and participation from European nations.
According to Bruxelles 2, Germany, in particular, has been driving the deliberations in Brussels regarding the new deployment. The preliminary plans envision the deployment of at least three frigates, including aerial reconnaissance through drones or helicopters. For the German Armed Forces, the deployment of the frigate “Hessen” is being considered, which is equipped for air defense and had only recently returned from a NATO mission to Wilhelmshaven shortly before Christmas.
The spokesperson for the German Foreign Office, Sebastian Fischer, had reiterated the government’s readiness to participate in a mission under EU command just on Wednesday. It is likely that Germany’s political endorsement of the existing mission in the Strait of Hormuz in 2020, even though there was never any German military involvement, played a role in this. After consideration by the PSK, the plan could be presented to the EU foreign ministers at their meeting on Jan. 22. tw
“Europe is the political DNA of Emmanuel Macron,” says a well-informed liberal source to Table.Media. “He has built his political identity around Europe.” The problem: While the President’s camp still has no leading candidate for the European elections on June 9, the Rassemblement National (RN) is polling about ten percentage points ahead of the lost of Macron.
The upcoming elections, therefore, pose a major challenge for the French President. “If he loses the election, he will lose political control in France for the rest of his term,” says the source. Not to mention the impact on the European stage. This scenario is unthinkable in the Elysee Palace. And that’s why the French President has brought out his king and queen simultaneously on the political chessboard of France: Gabriel Attal and Stéphane Séjourné.
The former minister of education, who has skyrocketed to become the Prime Minister, is currently one of the most popular political figures in France. It is this popularity that explains the French President’s choice. With his appointment, Macron has chosen someone capable of reviving his presidency. After the passage of the highly controversial pension reform and immigration laws, his second term lost momentum. Attal’s profile contrasts with his predecessors Élisabeth Borne and Jean Castex, perceived as rather technocratic in Paris.
Attal will be able to rely on the strong shoulders of Renew leader Stéphane Séjourné, who was surprisingly appointed as Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs on Thursday evening. The MEP is more familiar with the European machinery than anyone else in Paris. Moreover, the Macronist, who – like Gabriel Attal – came from the Socialist Party, was Macron’s political advisor before being appointed Renew leader. In other words, with Attal and Séjourné, Macron has brought two politicians to his side who have been among his most loyal supporters from the very beginning. Both politicians possess rhetorical strength and expertise in European affairs.
What role will the Prime Minister play in the European elections? Keeping an eye on the Member of the European Parliament for Rassemblement National, Jordan Bardella. At 28, he is also a rising star in French politics. “With their candidate, RN cannot attack Attal for his young age and lack of political experience,” it is said. Since both have a penchant for wit and communicate extensively through social networks, their political communication is not so different. And the new Prime Minister, who has already debated with Jordan Bardella six times on television, assures that he “does not fear” his opponent.
Focusing on Bardella will be all the easier for Attal, as he won’t have to push through major reforms in Parliament until the summer – unlike his predecessor Elisabeth Borne. He will also not have to deal with the nationalization of the European political debate: Renaissance, the French branch of Renew, has not yet nominated a candidate.
There is calculation behind the delay. “If Renaissance had presented its candidate in the fall, he would have had to deal with resistance to pension reform and immigration law reform,” say liberal circles in France. A nomination in the coming weeks will thus save the Renaissance candidate from a national debate that would not necessarily have been advantageous for the President’s camp.
On Jan. 24, the EU Commission is set to unveil a package of measures for economic security. However, the eagerly awaited element, the proposed law on so-called outbound investment screening, is expected to be missing. Instead, it is reported that it will remain a non-binding white paper in Brussels.
In its June strategy paper, the Commission expressed concerns that not only exports but also investments by European companies could lead to the outflow of know-how related to security-sensitive technologies to third countries. Therefore, it announced a proposal on how foreign investments in specific technology fields such as artificial intelligence, semiconductor technology and quantum computing should be regulated. Companies would then be required to report planned investments to government authorities. China, in particular, has been frequently mentioned in this context.
The US government urged Europeans to take such a step. US President Joe Biden ordered controls on US foreign investments, especially in microelectronics, during the summer and sought allies. However, the EU Commission encountered broad resistance in the business sector and many member states during consultations on the plans. Associations criticized the restrictions on entrepreneurial decision-making and the introduction of new bureaucracy. It is rumored that Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is now yielding to this pressure.
“Protect, strengthen, prepare” is the motto Belgium has chosen for its six-month EU Council Presidency. The planned expansion by 2030, including Ukraine, Moldova and other Western Balkan countries, is intended to make the European Union larger and stronger, according to the program of the new Council Presidency.
However, the lengthy and intricate accession process could initially weaken and hinder the Union. Each step must be unanimously approved by all 27 EU member states. Additionally, the EU itself is not prepared for expansion; it needs to initiate and implement several contentious and costly reforms.
The Belgian Council Presidency now faces the challenging task of initiating both processes: the accession negotiations decided in December, initially planned with Ukraine and Moldova, and the EU reforms. A few weeks after the EU summit in December 2023, the roadmap is slowly taking shape.
Firstly, the new Council Presidency will address pending EU laws, announced Belgian Permanent Representative Willem Van de Voorde in Brussels. The expansion will only be tackled from March onwards. For Ukraine and Moldova, the “operational phase” of accession talks will begin. This phase comes with many challenges.
Both countries must first implement pending reforms. The EU Commission has formulated seven conditions for Ukraine, of which four have already been fulfilled. Top priorities on the to-do list include:
In March, the Brussels authorities will present a report on the implementation of reforms and the fulfillment of conditions. If the report is positive and EU states agree on a negotiation framework, actual accession talks can begin. A unanimous decision of the Council is also required for the start of the so-called accession conference, Van de Voorde stated.
This provides Hungary, in particular, the opportunity to delay the start. As the opening and closing of all 35 accession chapters must happen by consensus, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán could potentially veto the process 70 times. Abstaining at the EU summit in December is no guarantee that negotiations will proceed smoothly, according to Brussels.
However, the Belgian EU Council Presidency is not discouraged by this – quite the opposite: It is pushing forward. “Viktor Orbán has understood that there is also a limit to the blockade,” Van de Voorde remains optimistic. Belgium will strive for swift negotiations while simultaneously addressing EU reforms. The Belgian roadmap for internal renewal, however, remains relatively vague.
Only in June, after intensive consultations, will Belgium present a “roadmap” for potential reforms. Unlike the past focus on “deepening” the EU and its institutions during expansion, this roadmap primarily aims to secure the EU’s operational capability. Old and new members should not hinder but ideally strengthen the EU.
However, the 27 members are already struggling to meet their self-imposed expectations. At their last summit, the EU failed in its attempt to supplement the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) and allocate 50 billion euros for Ukraine. Orbán vetoed the proposal, and now a special summit on Feb. 1 is expected to address the issue. If the Hungarian Prime Minister says “no” again, trouble is looming.
Disputes over money are likely to arise even without Orbán. It is already clear that the budget must be expanded if expansion occurs. According to an EU internal study quoted by the Financial Times, if nine countries join (in addition to Ukraine and Moldova, also Georgia and six Balkan states), the MFF would need to be increased by 256.8 billion euros.
While Belgium does not explicitly endorse this figure, Prime Minister Alexander De Croo has already advocated for a higher EU budget, partly financed by new resources. In an interview with Le Soir, he also emphasized the need for new priorities. It is difficult to explain that most money goes to cohesion and agriculture, said the liberal politician.
This puts De Croo at odds with countries like France and Italy, but also with “frugal” states such as the Netherlands and Germany. However, decisions on the future MFF are not expected during the Belgian Presidency. Instead, a “strategic agenda” is intended to be the final outcome, outlining priorities for the coming years.
Expansion and EU reform are likely to be at the top of the agenda. The Belgian Council Presidency aims to lay the foundations for a larger and stronger EU by June, with implementation likely to follow afterward – under Hungarian leadership, ironically.
The compromise on the AI Act did not bring the desired outcome for Parliament. The FDP, led by shadow rapporteur Svenja Hahn, especially opposes the agreement on the controversial topic of biometric recognition in public spaces outlined in the current legislative text. Hahn finds it “unspeakable” that the Spanish Council Presidency ensured that the final legislative text no longer corresponds to the trilogue agreement in crucial points.
This “misunderstanding” occurred because the agreement, after the marathon negotiations on the night of Dec. 9, was based on verbal agreements. The corresponding text, available in excerpts to Table.Media, was only received in writing by the parties on Dec. 21. Reporters Dragoș Tudorache (Renew) and Brando Benifei (S&D) apparently did not insist forcefully enough on written confirmation at the crucial moment.
The discussion on biometric recognition in public spaces took up the majority of the negotiation time. The Parliament wanted to completely ban real-time biometric recognition and allow post-processing only under strict conditions and for serious offenses.
In the current text version, it remains unclear when biometric identification is no longer considered “real-time” but “post-processing”, according to Hahn. Almost nothing is left of the very restrictive conditions for deployment, such as prior judicial authorization. Hahn sees this as a threat to civil rights, as even minor offenses could be tracked using facial recognition.
This is also the opinion of the organization European Digital Rights (EDRi). “We have been monitoring the issue of biometric recognition in public spaces in member states for years and have seen that they are continually pushing the boundaries,” says Ella Jakubowska, Senior Policy Advisor at EDRi, to Table.Media. “We saw the AI Act as an opportunity to contain this, thanks to the strong position of Parliament.” For example, France plans to use the technology at the Olympic Games.
But now, governments have received a blank check to “turn our faces and bodies into walking barcodes“, according to Hahn’s view. Governments worldwide could take the EU as an example that biometric surveillance in public spaces is acceptable. “Such profound intrusions into privacy have no place in a democratic society,” says Jakubowska.
EDRi has collected examples from the past that are supposed to show what will be possible in the future if the AI Act comes in its current version. Two of these examples:
Could the AI Act still fail in the Parliament vote due to the regulation on biometric recognition? The other parties are currently not willing to reopen the compromise regarding Article 29 Paragraph 6a. As it stands now, the FDP will reject the law in the vote. However, this does not apply to the entire Renew faction, to which the rapporteur Dragoș Tudorache belongs, among others. The same goes for S&D. However, it is not ruled out that civil rights-oriented parliamentarians from these factions may ultimately reject the law.
There could also be resistance in the Council. Rumors that the German government wrote a letter to the Spanish Council Presidency rejecting the compromise were denied by both the responsible Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Volker Wissing’s Ministry of Digital Affairs. However, it is unclear whether Germany will accept the compromise. Too many ministries with different views want to have a say, including Interior Minister Nancy Faser and Consumer Protection Minister Steffi Lemke.
Although the coalition agreement states, “Biometric recognition in public spaces and automated state scoring systems through AI must be ruled out under European law,” it is unlikely that the German government will let the compromise fail at this point.
For example, Wissing could veto the almost equally contentious decision on how General Purpose AI models (GPAI Models) should be regulated. Here, resistance could also come from France. President Emmanuel Macron has made no secret that he is not happy with the compromise. He said the law poses a risk that European technology companies will lag behind those from the US and China.
How the German government plans to reconcile the various interests is unclear. It wants to examine the text first. Officially, it has not yet received it, as the details are currently being finalized in technical negotiations. The Belgian Council Presidency plans to send the text on Jan. 19. Then there is little time for examination because the Permanent Representatives are expected to take a position on Jan. 24.
If they give their approval, legal experts and legal linguists will have several weeks to translate the text correctly into all 24 official languages of the EU. Voting in the plenary and the Council could then take place at the end of February or the beginning of March.
Stéphane Séjourné will be France’s new foreign minister, according to the office of President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday. Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire and Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin are also expected to remain in their current positions.
The biggest surprise in the cabinet reshuffle, however, is the appointment of conservative politician Rachida Dati, a close ally of former President Nicolas Sarkozy. She will become France’s minister of culture. rtr
Aircraft and ships were used in the early Friday morning Yemeni time to bombard sites used for launching drones and anti-ship missiles. US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak described the action as a necessary step to contain the danger to human lives and international trade.
Since mid-November, the Huthis, supported by Iran, have repeatedly targeted drones and anti-ship missiles at container freighters and tankers passing the Yemeni coast on their way to or from the Suez Canal. They cited their support for Hamas militants in the war against Israel as the reason. In response, numerous shipping companies had suspended their route through the Red Sea for their vessels, opting to send freighters on the longer route around Africa.
According to US government officials, the operation, supported by Australia, Bahrain, Canada and the Netherlands, targeted numerous “very precisely selected objectives” with precision munitions to avoid civilian casualties. Detailed information on the number and success of the mission was not initially available from Washington. The UK Ministry of Defence stated that British Eurofighter Typhoon jets, launched from Cyprus, attacked a drone launch site in Bani in northwest Yemen and the airfield of Abbs, from where cruise missiles had been launched.
The attack was independent of the “Operation Prosperity Guardian” mission in which warships from several nations, under US leadership, protect commercial ships from attacks, according to government sources in Washington. Simultaneously, but separate from the airstrikes, the White House released a joint statement from 10 countries, including Germany. In it, the Huthis were once again urged to cease their attacks on maritime traffic. If they continue their actions, they will be responsible for the consequences.
Regardless of the attempt by the USA and the UK to halt the threat posed by Huthi militants in Yemen through airstrikes, the EU’s plans for its own mission to protect maritime traffic in the Red Sea are taking shape. On Tuesday, the ambassadors of member states in the Political and Security Committee (PSK) are expected to consider an action plan that envisages the deployment of warships, according to the security policy Brussels news portal Bruxelles 2. An existing mission under French leadership to protect ships in the Strait of Hormuz is to be expanded for this purpose.
The “Crisis Management Concept” developed in Brussels, according to Bruxelles 2, envisions expanding the “European Maritime Surveillance Mission in the Strait of Hormuz” (Mission européenne de surveillance maritime dans le détroit d’Ormuz, EMASOH), established in 2020, to include the Red Sea and the Bab el Mandeb, the link between the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, and thus the Suez Canal. Since November, Huthi militants supported by Iran have been attacking commercial ships in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen to support Hamas militants in the war against Israel. Just on Wednesday, US and UK warships repelled the largest attack to date with drones and anti-ship missiles against container freighters.
While the USA has launched a coalition of the willing called “Operation Prosperity Guardian” to combat these attacks, only a few European countries have joined so far. Instead, the EU initially attempted to expand the tasks of its Atalanta anti-piracy mission off the Horn of Africa, which failed due to Spain’s resistance. A new EU mission could, however, rely on more approval and participation from European nations.
According to Bruxelles 2, Germany, in particular, has been driving the deliberations in Brussels regarding the new deployment. The preliminary plans envision the deployment of at least three frigates, including aerial reconnaissance through drones or helicopters. For the German Armed Forces, the deployment of the frigate “Hessen” is being considered, which is equipped for air defense and had only recently returned from a NATO mission to Wilhelmshaven shortly before Christmas.
The spokesperson for the German Foreign Office, Sebastian Fischer, had reiterated the government’s readiness to participate in a mission under EU command just on Wednesday. It is likely that Germany’s political endorsement of the existing mission in the Strait of Hormuz in 2020, even though there was never any German military involvement, played a role in this. After consideration by the PSK, the plan could be presented to the EU foreign ministers at their meeting on Jan. 22. tw
“Europe is the political DNA of Emmanuel Macron,” says a well-informed liberal source to Table.Media. “He has built his political identity around Europe.” The problem: While the President’s camp still has no leading candidate for the European elections on June 9, the Rassemblement National (RN) is polling about ten percentage points ahead of the lost of Macron.
The upcoming elections, therefore, pose a major challenge for the French President. “If he loses the election, he will lose political control in France for the rest of his term,” says the source. Not to mention the impact on the European stage. This scenario is unthinkable in the Elysee Palace. And that’s why the French President has brought out his king and queen simultaneously on the political chessboard of France: Gabriel Attal and Stéphane Séjourné.
The former minister of education, who has skyrocketed to become the Prime Minister, is currently one of the most popular political figures in France. It is this popularity that explains the French President’s choice. With his appointment, Macron has chosen someone capable of reviving his presidency. After the passage of the highly controversial pension reform and immigration laws, his second term lost momentum. Attal’s profile contrasts with his predecessors Élisabeth Borne and Jean Castex, perceived as rather technocratic in Paris.
Attal will be able to rely on the strong shoulders of Renew leader Stéphane Séjourné, who was surprisingly appointed as Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs on Thursday evening. The MEP is more familiar with the European machinery than anyone else in Paris. Moreover, the Macronist, who – like Gabriel Attal – came from the Socialist Party, was Macron’s political advisor before being appointed Renew leader. In other words, with Attal and Séjourné, Macron has brought two politicians to his side who have been among his most loyal supporters from the very beginning. Both politicians possess rhetorical strength and expertise in European affairs.
What role will the Prime Minister play in the European elections? Keeping an eye on the Member of the European Parliament for Rassemblement National, Jordan Bardella. At 28, he is also a rising star in French politics. “With their candidate, RN cannot attack Attal for his young age and lack of political experience,” it is said. Since both have a penchant for wit and communicate extensively through social networks, their political communication is not so different. And the new Prime Minister, who has already debated with Jordan Bardella six times on television, assures that he “does not fear” his opponent.
Focusing on Bardella will be all the easier for Attal, as he won’t have to push through major reforms in Parliament until the summer – unlike his predecessor Elisabeth Borne. He will also not have to deal with the nationalization of the European political debate: Renaissance, the French branch of Renew, has not yet nominated a candidate.
There is calculation behind the delay. “If Renaissance had presented its candidate in the fall, he would have had to deal with resistance to pension reform and immigration law reform,” say liberal circles in France. A nomination in the coming weeks will thus save the Renaissance candidate from a national debate that would not necessarily have been advantageous for the President’s camp.
