Yesterday, the ECJ dismissed the actions brought forward by the governments in Poland and Hungary against the EU’s rule of law mechanism. This allows the EU Commission to withhold funds for member states if democratic rights and freedoms are violated. But there is no question of Brussels taking swift action: it could take “weeks” before action is taken against the violations, it said. Numerous politicians criticize the slow pace and speak of a “stalling tactic”. But Eric Bonse has learned that there are good reasons for proceeding cautiously.
More than four years have passed since the last official summit between the European Union and the African Union. Today, the heads of state and government of the two continents are meeting in Brussels to strengthen relations that have not always been easy. The EU wants to mobilize €150 billion and help its partner countries from the global south with infrastructure projects, including with know-how. The focus is also on sustainable economic development and possible cooperation in the field of renewable energies and green hydrogen. But while industry already sees the EU’s import needs covered, development experts warn against neocolonial structures, as Timo Landenberger reports.
The EU Commission will not take action against Hungary or Poland in the short term following the ruling of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) on the rule of law mechanism. Before taking action against violations of the rule of law, it could still take “weeks,” said a spokeswoman in Brussels. She did not want to commit to a date.
Yesterday, the ECJ ruled that the regulation on the conditionality of the rule of law, which was adopted in January 2021, was legally valid. The judges thus rejected the complaints from Hungary and Poland. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen welcomed the decision. It shows “that we are on the right track,” she said.
The EU Commission is thus allowed to withhold funds from the EU budget if violations of the rule of law in a member state endanger the financial interests of the EU. This includes, for example, an inadequate fight against corruption or a lack of independence of the judiciary. Such a violation must involve “a circumstance or conduct attributable to an authority of a member state and relevant to the sound financial management of the Union’s budget,” the Court stressed.
The Commission now intends to examine the ruling in detail. On this basis, existing guidelines for the reduction of EU funds are to be revised. Only then will it be possible to implement the ruling and formally notify countries with violations of the rule of law, according to the authority. The Commission had already sent an initial letter to Budapest and Warsaw, and the replies have now also been received.
In Brussels, the Commission is expected to take action against Hungary first. Experts think this is obvious: “It is easier to prove the link between the deficits in the rule of law and the EU budget here than in the case of Poland,” says Thu Nguyen, Policy Fellow at the Jacques Delors Centre. When the mechanism is used for the first time, the Commission will be very keen to have a watertight case that will stand up before the ECJ.
However, it remains to be seen whether the Commission will initiate the procedure before Hungary’s parliamentary elections in April. In Brussels and Berlin, there is concern that this would provide Prime Minister Viktor Orbán with new ammunition in his campaign against the EU. In any case, the greater leverage would be the funds from the Next Generation EU reconstruction fund, which the Commission continues to withhold, according to government circles.
In contrast, there have recently been signs of détente between Warsaw and Brussels. President Andrzej Duda presented a bill to dissolve the controversial disciplinary chamber of the Supreme Court. In addition, both sides are united by concerns about a Russian invasion of Ukraine and the resulting wave of refugees.
Sharp criticism of the Commission’s hesitation is coming from the European Parliament. Vice President Katarina Barley (SPD) said the procedure envisaged by the Commission would take at least five months, perhaps even nine. The EU authority’s “stalling tactics” are unacceptable, the former German justice minister said. The MEPs had filed an action for failure to act with the ECJ in the fall to force the Commission to act.
Sharp criticism also came from the Greens and Liberals. The Commission is not living up to its responsibility for fundamental rights and for the EU budget, said Green MEP Terry Reintke. She threatened to postpone the discharge of the EU Commission “until it stops ducking responsibility.”
EU Budget Commissioner Johannes Hahn justified his agency’s action. The aim was to “move forward quickly” but also to “ensure a safe and fair process,” he said. He said the guidelines presented by the Commission for cutting EU funds were well advanced. Nevertheless, it is important to prove a direct link between rule of law violations and the EU budget. Any funding cuts would have to be court-proof, he said, adding that mistakes could not be afforded.
In Berlin, German Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP) called on the Commission to use the instrument now. The chairman of the European Affairs Committee in the Bundestag, Anton Hofreiter, advocated swift action: “The EU Commission must not lose any more time now and must apply the regulation consistently,” the Green politician told Europe.Table.
Somewhat more reserved tones come from the SPD. The Commission will now first name the criteria for a procedure in its guidelines, said the SPD rapporteur in the Bundestag, Johannes Schraps. “On this basis, the Commission should carefully examine whether the violations by Poland and Hungary identified in other proceedings justify the withholding of European funds.” With Till Hoppe and Falk Steiner
Expectations are high ahead of the sixth summit between the African Union and the European Union, which begins today in Brussels under the French presidency. The two-day summit, which is expected to be attended by all 27 EU heads of government as well as some 40 heads of state from Africa, is intended to put relations between the two continents on a new footing and address pressing issues in the areas of security, health, digitization, and education as well as the energy transition and climate protection.
“Africa can become one of the hubs for the energy policy of the future. The continent has huge potential,” says Udo Bullmann, development policy spokesman for the S&D Group in the EU Parliament, to Europe.Table. The triad of sun, water, and wind is obvious, but in many places there is still a lack of knowledge about this potential. Here, the EU-Africa summit could quickly achieve results.
For African economies, it is important to shape their development in such a way “that dependencies on fossil fuels are avoided from the outset, but at the same time competitive and strong industrial and service sectors are built up,” Bullmann said. This can only be done with Europe’s support, he said, and there is still time: the whole of Africa currently emits less carbon for energy production than Germany alone. “So with the right investments and incentives, we can make Africa one of the leading producers and possibly even a net exporter of clean energy.” This, in turn, could also benefit Europe.
Because the EU will not be able to meet its growing demand for renewable electricity and green hydrogen through domestic production. Neither the hours of sunshine nor the available surface area are sufficient for this. Estimates of the need for imports range from around 30 to over 50 percent. The German Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW) is convinced that “African countries, among others, could play a major role here.”
This makes it all the more important to enter into international partnerships at an early stage. Hydrogen, in particular, offers great opportunities for cooperation and trade relations along new value chains, said a BDEW spokeswoman. “Talking platforms like the EU-Africa summit are therefore enormously important.”
The African Hydrogen Partnership (AHP), based in Mauritius, also has high hopes for the diplomatic meeting. After all, the development of sustainable economic areas requires functioning and fair markets, political stability, and security. It is the task of the EU and the AU to create an appropriate framework, says AHP Secretary General Siggi Huegemann to Europe.Table. Then a win-win situation could emerge. “Due to Africa’s proximity and its potential for production, green hydrogen from Africa is not only necessary for the decarbonization of Europe, but also relatively cheap,” Huegemann said.
Green MEP Anna Cavazzini is calling for a development-oriented approach from the representatives of both sides. The summit must ensure “that the African continent benefits from the development of innovative climate technologies, can create value locally and is not limited to the role of a raw material supplier.
17 percent of the world’s population lives on the African continent, of which more than half have inadequate access to electricity. Four percent of global greenhouse gas emissions are caused in Africa. Yet it is precisely the regions there that are suffering, in some cases considerably, from the effects of climate change. This is another reason why Europe has a special responsibility toward its neighboring continent, says Kerstin Opfer of the development and environmental organization Germanwatch.
The expert on energy policy and civil society in Africa calls for a renewed partnership of equals between the African Union and the European Union based on mutual trust. Structural inequalities must be overcome. Therefore, Europe should pay special attention to the needs of the African population and put its own economic interests on the back burner.
During a visit to Senegal last week, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen held out the prospect of an investment package worth €150 billion by 2030 for projects on the African continent. The amount corresponds to half of the total sum earmarked for the European investment and development offensive “Global Gateway” and is to be made up of EU funds, loans, and private capital, as an EU representative explained in the run-up to the meeting. With the infrastructure initiative, the EU also wants to slow China’s advance in countries of the global south and counter China’s new Silk Road (Belt and Road).
The use of the funds, targeted deepening of the partnership and concrete projects are to be discussed today and tomorrow in seven themed rounds of talks. Chancellor Olaf Scholz will take part in one such round table on “climate protection, energy transition, digitization and transport” and, as G7 chairman, will represent the position of the international community, according to a spokesman for the German government.
Originally, the diplomatic exchange was to have taken place in 2020, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, making it more than four years since the last official EU-Africa summit.
Kristina Sinemus is under special scrutiny. Europe’s administrative experts are likely to follow her every move very closely. This is because Hesse’s digital minister has an ambitious plan. She wants to make her state a model state for digitization. Since taking office in 2019, the 58-year-old has been pursuing the goal of turning Hesse into a “German Silicon Valley,” as she calls it.
Among other things, Sinemus is equipping rural regions with the most powerful internet connections possible, driving forward business models around artificial intelligence (AI) and digitizing administration. “We can serve as a blueprint for digital policy at the federal level and in Europe,” she says. In the German federal government and the EU Commission, digital ministries are bundled with other departmental responsibilities.
One legislative period – she would already have to deal with this duration to build up the team, her colleagues had said at the time when she took office in 2019. “I am impatient by nature and initially wanted to do it in six months.” But she had to learn that many a process passes through many hands. “The advantage is thoroughness,” she says. After 15 months, she was finally fully operational with 100 employees.
Since then, Sinemus has already got a lot underway in Hesse. Almost 5500 cell towers have been built or renewed in the state. More than 1,500 public internet connections have been installed in the state. And a new research institute for artificial intelligence is being built in Darmstadt at an initial cost of €38 million.
She is not only advancing the topic of AI in her own state. Sinemus is also active at the European level. At her invitation, European politicians and AI experts met at the “Digital Leaders Roundtable” last November to discuss the topic of “Artificial Intelligence for Tomorrow”.
The first goal: a binding legal framework at EU level for the use of AI. And here, too, Hesse’s expertise was relied upon. Last spring, the Hessian Council for Digital Ethics had published a thesis paper entitled “Trust in AI.” “If we follow these guidelines in Europe, we can become pioneers in the development of responsible AI,” says the digital minister.
Kristina Sinemus sees her own house as a cross-sectional ministry. “We want to strengthen the other ministries in their digital projects as best we can.” For example, her ministry is supporting the establishment of a center for quantum computing with almost €3.2 million together with the science ministry. She helped the social affairs department with the purchase of 10,000 tablets for retirement and nursing homes.
Sinemus herself manages €1.2 billion in this legislative period. “Budget sovereignty must be centralized. This is the only way to see where projects from different departments can be merged,” she says. She declared power over the distribution of funds a condition when Hesse’s Minister-President Volker Bouffier offered her the ministerial post via cell phone three years ago. “I was surprised, consulted with my family for a day and then accepted,” she says.
In fact, she is not a proven digital expert. Until 1991, she studied biology, chemistry, education, and German studies in Münster and Kassel and worked as a research assistant at the Center for Interdisciplinary Technology Research at Darmstadt Technical University. In the late nineties, she founded and managed an agency for science communication. Since 2011, she has held a professorship for political communication at Quadriga Hochschule Berlin.
At the German federal level, she misses clearer structures and processes. “We definitely need a coordinating body, ideally a digital ministry at the federal level.” There’s no way around that. In addition, “Interdepartmental budget coordination must be joined by operations for the entire infrastructure sector. Mobile service, broadband, and its regulation, which has proven itself in Hesse.”
At the moment, however, Sinemus has to take a break. The passionate volleyball player has torn her Achilles tendon. Now she has no choice but to exercise patience for once. “Everything is good for something,” she says. Andreas Schulte
Yesterday, the ECJ dismissed the actions brought forward by the governments in Poland and Hungary against the EU’s rule of law mechanism. This allows the EU Commission to withhold funds for member states if democratic rights and freedoms are violated. But there is no question of Brussels taking swift action: it could take “weeks” before action is taken against the violations, it said. Numerous politicians criticize the slow pace and speak of a “stalling tactic”. But Eric Bonse has learned that there are good reasons for proceeding cautiously.
More than four years have passed since the last official summit between the European Union and the African Union. Today, the heads of state and government of the two continents are meeting in Brussels to strengthen relations that have not always been easy. The EU wants to mobilize €150 billion and help its partner countries from the global south with infrastructure projects, including with know-how. The focus is also on sustainable economic development and possible cooperation in the field of renewable energies and green hydrogen. But while industry already sees the EU’s import needs covered, development experts warn against neocolonial structures, as Timo Landenberger reports.
The EU Commission will not take action against Hungary or Poland in the short term following the ruling of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) on the rule of law mechanism. Before taking action against violations of the rule of law, it could still take “weeks,” said a spokeswoman in Brussels. She did not want to commit to a date.
Yesterday, the ECJ ruled that the regulation on the conditionality of the rule of law, which was adopted in January 2021, was legally valid. The judges thus rejected the complaints from Hungary and Poland. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen welcomed the decision. It shows “that we are on the right track,” she said.
The EU Commission is thus allowed to withhold funds from the EU budget if violations of the rule of law in a member state endanger the financial interests of the EU. This includes, for example, an inadequate fight against corruption or a lack of independence of the judiciary. Such a violation must involve “a circumstance or conduct attributable to an authority of a member state and relevant to the sound financial management of the Union’s budget,” the Court stressed.
The Commission now intends to examine the ruling in detail. On this basis, existing guidelines for the reduction of EU funds are to be revised. Only then will it be possible to implement the ruling and formally notify countries with violations of the rule of law, according to the authority. The Commission had already sent an initial letter to Budapest and Warsaw, and the replies have now also been received.
In Brussels, the Commission is expected to take action against Hungary first. Experts think this is obvious: “It is easier to prove the link between the deficits in the rule of law and the EU budget here than in the case of Poland,” says Thu Nguyen, Policy Fellow at the Jacques Delors Centre. When the mechanism is used for the first time, the Commission will be very keen to have a watertight case that will stand up before the ECJ.
However, it remains to be seen whether the Commission will initiate the procedure before Hungary’s parliamentary elections in April. In Brussels and Berlin, there is concern that this would provide Prime Minister Viktor Orbán with new ammunition in his campaign against the EU. In any case, the greater leverage would be the funds from the Next Generation EU reconstruction fund, which the Commission continues to withhold, according to government circles.
In contrast, there have recently been signs of détente between Warsaw and Brussels. President Andrzej Duda presented a bill to dissolve the controversial disciplinary chamber of the Supreme Court. In addition, both sides are united by concerns about a Russian invasion of Ukraine and the resulting wave of refugees.
Sharp criticism of the Commission’s hesitation is coming from the European Parliament. Vice President Katarina Barley (SPD) said the procedure envisaged by the Commission would take at least five months, perhaps even nine. The EU authority’s “stalling tactics” are unacceptable, the former German justice minister said. The MEPs had filed an action for failure to act with the ECJ in the fall to force the Commission to act.
Sharp criticism also came from the Greens and Liberals. The Commission is not living up to its responsibility for fundamental rights and for the EU budget, said Green MEP Terry Reintke. She threatened to postpone the discharge of the EU Commission “until it stops ducking responsibility.”
EU Budget Commissioner Johannes Hahn justified his agency’s action. The aim was to “move forward quickly” but also to “ensure a safe and fair process,” he said. He said the guidelines presented by the Commission for cutting EU funds were well advanced. Nevertheless, it is important to prove a direct link between rule of law violations and the EU budget. Any funding cuts would have to be court-proof, he said, adding that mistakes could not be afforded.
In Berlin, German Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP) called on the Commission to use the instrument now. The chairman of the European Affairs Committee in the Bundestag, Anton Hofreiter, advocated swift action: “The EU Commission must not lose any more time now and must apply the regulation consistently,” the Green politician told Europe.Table.
Somewhat more reserved tones come from the SPD. The Commission will now first name the criteria for a procedure in its guidelines, said the SPD rapporteur in the Bundestag, Johannes Schraps. “On this basis, the Commission should carefully examine whether the violations by Poland and Hungary identified in other proceedings justify the withholding of European funds.” With Till Hoppe and Falk Steiner
Expectations are high ahead of the sixth summit between the African Union and the European Union, which begins today in Brussels under the French presidency. The two-day summit, which is expected to be attended by all 27 EU heads of government as well as some 40 heads of state from Africa, is intended to put relations between the two continents on a new footing and address pressing issues in the areas of security, health, digitization, and education as well as the energy transition and climate protection.
“Africa can become one of the hubs for the energy policy of the future. The continent has huge potential,” says Udo Bullmann, development policy spokesman for the S&D Group in the EU Parliament, to Europe.Table. The triad of sun, water, and wind is obvious, but in many places there is still a lack of knowledge about this potential. Here, the EU-Africa summit could quickly achieve results.
For African economies, it is important to shape their development in such a way “that dependencies on fossil fuels are avoided from the outset, but at the same time competitive and strong industrial and service sectors are built up,” Bullmann said. This can only be done with Europe’s support, he said, and there is still time: the whole of Africa currently emits less carbon for energy production than Germany alone. “So with the right investments and incentives, we can make Africa one of the leading producers and possibly even a net exporter of clean energy.” This, in turn, could also benefit Europe.
Because the EU will not be able to meet its growing demand for renewable electricity and green hydrogen through domestic production. Neither the hours of sunshine nor the available surface area are sufficient for this. Estimates of the need for imports range from around 30 to over 50 percent. The German Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW) is convinced that “African countries, among others, could play a major role here.”
This makes it all the more important to enter into international partnerships at an early stage. Hydrogen, in particular, offers great opportunities for cooperation and trade relations along new value chains, said a BDEW spokeswoman. “Talking platforms like the EU-Africa summit are therefore enormously important.”
The African Hydrogen Partnership (AHP), based in Mauritius, also has high hopes for the diplomatic meeting. After all, the development of sustainable economic areas requires functioning and fair markets, political stability, and security. It is the task of the EU and the AU to create an appropriate framework, says AHP Secretary General Siggi Huegemann to Europe.Table. Then a win-win situation could emerge. “Due to Africa’s proximity and its potential for production, green hydrogen from Africa is not only necessary for the decarbonization of Europe, but also relatively cheap,” Huegemann said.
Green MEP Anna Cavazzini is calling for a development-oriented approach from the representatives of both sides. The summit must ensure “that the African continent benefits from the development of innovative climate technologies, can create value locally and is not limited to the role of a raw material supplier.
17 percent of the world’s population lives on the African continent, of which more than half have inadequate access to electricity. Four percent of global greenhouse gas emissions are caused in Africa. Yet it is precisely the regions there that are suffering, in some cases considerably, from the effects of climate change. This is another reason why Europe has a special responsibility toward its neighboring continent, says Kerstin Opfer of the development and environmental organization Germanwatch.
The expert on energy policy and civil society in Africa calls for a renewed partnership of equals between the African Union and the European Union based on mutual trust. Structural inequalities must be overcome. Therefore, Europe should pay special attention to the needs of the African population and put its own economic interests on the back burner.
During a visit to Senegal last week, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen held out the prospect of an investment package worth €150 billion by 2030 for projects on the African continent. The amount corresponds to half of the total sum earmarked for the European investment and development offensive “Global Gateway” and is to be made up of EU funds, loans, and private capital, as an EU representative explained in the run-up to the meeting. With the infrastructure initiative, the EU also wants to slow China’s advance in countries of the global south and counter China’s new Silk Road (Belt and Road).
The use of the funds, targeted deepening of the partnership and concrete projects are to be discussed today and tomorrow in seven themed rounds of talks. Chancellor Olaf Scholz will take part in one such round table on “climate protection, energy transition, digitization and transport” and, as G7 chairman, will represent the position of the international community, according to a spokesman for the German government.
Originally, the diplomatic exchange was to have taken place in 2020, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, making it more than four years since the last official EU-Africa summit.
Kristina Sinemus is under special scrutiny. Europe’s administrative experts are likely to follow her every move very closely. This is because Hesse’s digital minister has an ambitious plan. She wants to make her state a model state for digitization. Since taking office in 2019, the 58-year-old has been pursuing the goal of turning Hesse into a “German Silicon Valley,” as she calls it.
Among other things, Sinemus is equipping rural regions with the most powerful internet connections possible, driving forward business models around artificial intelligence (AI) and digitizing administration. “We can serve as a blueprint for digital policy at the federal level and in Europe,” she says. In the German federal government and the EU Commission, digital ministries are bundled with other departmental responsibilities.
One legislative period – she would already have to deal with this duration to build up the team, her colleagues had said at the time when she took office in 2019. “I am impatient by nature and initially wanted to do it in six months.” But she had to learn that many a process passes through many hands. “The advantage is thoroughness,” she says. After 15 months, she was finally fully operational with 100 employees.
Since then, Sinemus has already got a lot underway in Hesse. Almost 5500 cell towers have been built or renewed in the state. More than 1,500 public internet connections have been installed in the state. And a new research institute for artificial intelligence is being built in Darmstadt at an initial cost of €38 million.
She is not only advancing the topic of AI in her own state. Sinemus is also active at the European level. At her invitation, European politicians and AI experts met at the “Digital Leaders Roundtable” last November to discuss the topic of “Artificial Intelligence for Tomorrow”.
The first goal: a binding legal framework at EU level for the use of AI. And here, too, Hesse’s expertise was relied upon. Last spring, the Hessian Council for Digital Ethics had published a thesis paper entitled “Trust in AI.” “If we follow these guidelines in Europe, we can become pioneers in the development of responsible AI,” says the digital minister.
Kristina Sinemus sees her own house as a cross-sectional ministry. “We want to strengthen the other ministries in their digital projects as best we can.” For example, her ministry is supporting the establishment of a center for quantum computing with almost €3.2 million together with the science ministry. She helped the social affairs department with the purchase of 10,000 tablets for retirement and nursing homes.
Sinemus herself manages €1.2 billion in this legislative period. “Budget sovereignty must be centralized. This is the only way to see where projects from different departments can be merged,” she says. She declared power over the distribution of funds a condition when Hesse’s Minister-President Volker Bouffier offered her the ministerial post via cell phone three years ago. “I was surprised, consulted with my family for a day and then accepted,” she says.
In fact, she is not a proven digital expert. Until 1991, she studied biology, chemistry, education, and German studies in Münster and Kassel and worked as a research assistant at the Center for Interdisciplinary Technology Research at Darmstadt Technical University. In the late nineties, she founded and managed an agency for science communication. Since 2011, she has held a professorship for political communication at Quadriga Hochschule Berlin.
At the German federal level, she misses clearer structures and processes. “We definitely need a coordinating body, ideally a digital ministry at the federal level.” There’s no way around that. In addition, “Interdepartmental budget coordination must be joined by operations for the entire infrastructure sector. Mobile service, broadband, and its regulation, which has proven itself in Hesse.”
At the moment, however, Sinemus has to take a break. The passionate volleyball player has torn her Achilles tendon. Now she has no choice but to exercise patience for once. “Everything is good for something,” she says. Andreas Schulte
