The EU finance ministers are meeting in Budapest today. Or to be more precise: A few finance ministers and several state secretaries and senior officials are meeting in Hungary’s capital. Many ministers are staying away from the informal meeting of the Council of Finance Ministers in protest against the Hungarian Council Presidency.
On the sidelines of the meeting, the ministers and officials will discuss financial aid for Ukraine, among other things. Although the EU and the G7 have actually decided to use the profits from the frozen Russian assets as a guarantee for a loan to support Ukraine with $50 billion, the technical implementation is not yet clear.
The USA is demanding a guarantee that Russian assets will remain frozen. However, the EU cannot guarantee this. This is because the sanctions have to be renewed again and again to ensure that they do not expire. However, the US needs the guarantee so that the White House can approve the loan on its own authority. If the credit risk is too high, the Republican-dominated Congress would have to vote on it – with an uncertain outcome.
Time is pressing. Not only because the presidential elections are coming up in the USA, but also because the EU itself is under pressure. A provision of the MFF regulation expires at the end of the year. This allows the EU to grant its share of the $50 billion macro-financial assistance for Ukraine without Hungary’s renewed consent.
In order to discuss this increasingly urgent problem, von der Leyen’s head of cabinet Björn Seibert invited the EU ambassadors to breakfast this morning.
We wish you a successful day!
Your János Allenbach-Ammann
Feature
Discrimination against EU companies: Commission avoids confrontation with Orbán
High-level corruption that goes unpunished, courts that follow the same rules, discriminatory LGBTQ laws: The EU Commission has taken vigorous action against many abuses in Hungary. It has frozen billions in funds and taken Budapest to the European Court of Justice (ECJ). However, the Brussels authority is conspicuously hesitant to react when Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government uses harsh methods to force companies from other EU states out of the country. This approach affects a core area of the European project: the internal market.
For years, Orbán has made no secret of the fact that he wants to “Magyarize” strategic areas of the Hungarian economy. In a speech to the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce in 2022, he listed the sectors in which he wanted to see more domestic ownership: telecommunications, building materials, insurance and retail. In these sectors, Hungarian investors are gradually taking over business shares from foreign competitors, often with state support. The government does not shy away from big names such as Vodafone or Spar.
The Commission has done little about this so far. In the latest rule of law report, the authority only touches on the shortcomings at the end of the 37-page document. A spokesperson refers to 13 ongoing infringement proceedings against Hungary in the area of the internal market. However, these are mainly aimed at just one sector: construction materials.
‘Gross violation of the rules of the internal market’
Resentment is growing in the business community. “The Hungarian government’s actions are a gross violation of the rules of the internal market”, says Philipp Haußmann, Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations. “It is high time that the EU Commission took action against this and protected the internal market.”
The German government is now also exerting pressure: In August, it sent a letter to the Commission calling on it to take action against Hungary’s procedure, which it considers to be contrary to European law. The Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs, Franziska Brantner (Greens), announced on Thursday in the Bundestag’s European Affairs Committee that she would also lobby the new Commission.
Representatives of the Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations and the Austrian Chamber of Commerce had made representations in Brussels in February. They voiced their concerns to Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager and Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders, among others. In the federal government, Brantner in particular has taken up the issue. However, without achieving much so far.
Buyers are often close to the government
German and European companies continue to be “systematically discriminated against” by the Hungarian authorities in these sectors, criticized Haußmann. The authorities impose special taxes on the companies, refuse to issue permits or subject them to arbitrary controls. “As a result, the companies concerned are in the red and are then forced to sell,often to businessmen with close ties to the government.“
Some examples:
Mobile communications: At the beginning of 2023, the British mobile communications group Vodafone sold its Hungarian business for €1.7 billion to a subsidiary of the Hungarian telecommunications group 4iG and the state-owned Corvinus investment fund. The government had previously increased taxes on telecom revenues. The government dispelled competition concerns with a ministerial decree, stating that the deal was of national strategic relevance.
Airport: In June, Orbán’s government achieved its goal and took over 80 percent of the shares in the operating company of Budapest’s Ferihegy Airport. This was preceded by years of harassment against the majority owner, Düsseldorf-based AviAlliance. The authorities had systematically denied permits, for example for a new terminal, a VIP gate with a view of Hungary’s EU presidency or simply for cafés in the waiting area.
Building materials: Foreign investors in the building materials industry have been subject to a particularly wide range of harassment for years. For example, a 90 percent special tax was imposed on Heidelberg Materials and price and production targets were imposed that pushed the Hungarian subsidiary directly into the red. The company had previously rejected a takeover bid for its subsidiaries. Years after the initial complaints, Heidelberg Materials is still waiting for a ruling from the ECJ. A year ago, Construction Minister Janos Lazar openly advised “foreign cement companies” to sell their subsidiaries to Hungarian entrepreneurs or the state.
Retail: In 2020, Viktor Orbán’s government introduced a retail tax that obliges large foreign food companies to pay 4.5 percent on their annual turnover. In addition, certain quantities of sugar had to be kept in stock and whole milk could only be sold at a certain price. At the end of November 2023, it was announced that the French retail chain Auchan was selling almost half of its Hungarian business to the Indotek Group owned by billionaire Daniel Jellinek, who, according to media reports, is close to Orbán’s son-in-law. The Austrian retail giant Spar intervened in Brussels.
In the summer, Orbán’s chief of staff Gergely Gulyas also announced a “defense tax”, which is intended to siphon off excessive profits from banks, energy companies and multinationals, for example. The specific details are unclear, but are fueling fears among local European companies.
Companies shy away from publicity and courts
The affected companies themselves rarely talk publicly about the harassment – “for fear of further reprisals”, says Haußmann. Only Spar boss Hans Reisch decided to take the high road: He lodged a complaint with the EU Commission in the spring and says in interviews that Orbán hinted that business would be easier if the state received a stake in the company. Spar also appealed to the court in Szeged against a fine for violating the price and quantity regulations – and was upheld by the European Court of Justice yesterday.
However, other companies are reluctant to take legal action due to the length of proceedings before national or European courts, writes York Albrecht from the Institute for European Politics in a new study. A “systematic dismantling of fair economic competition, which forms the basis of the European internal market” can be observed in Hungary. The existing EU instruments are failing to counter these illiberal methods. Therefore, “there is a de facto protection gap for the security of investments in the internal market”, according to the study.
Special taxes never properly illuminated
MEP Monika Hohlmeier (CSU), member of the Committee on Budgetary Control, criticizes the Commission: “I very much regret that under Ms Vestager and Mr Breton, the competition law issues with price caps and special taxeswere never properly examined.” In addition, the topics should be included in the annual rule of law reports: “If a country breaks the basic rules of the internal market and European companies can no longer set up freely or are systematically harassed, this should be a core area.”
Ursula von der Leyen announced in the political guidelines that the internal market dimension would be included in the rule of law report, according to the Commission. This is particularly with regard to SMEs that operate across borders.
Silo thinking as a problem
Green MEP Daniel Freund sees a problem in the Commission’s silo mentality. Justice Commissioner Reynders is concerned with the independence of the courts, while other Commissioners are looking at the correct use of money from the structural funds, the ARF funds or competition issues. They lack an overview of Viktor Orbán’s strategic approach, especially when it comes to internal market issues. “Nobody is looking at exactly how Orbán’s game is being played and what could be done to counter it”, said Freund.
In Berlin and Brussels, it is suspected that von der Leyen and Scholz have so far shied away from open conflict with Orbán in order not to drive Hungary’s prime minister even further into the arms of Russia and China. Budapest is trying to attract Chinese investors, especially in the field of electromobility. The prime minister can also block important EU decisions, such as sanctions against Moscow.
Anton Hofreiter, Chairman of the Europe Committee, believes that such considerations are wrong. “The fact that Orbán is currently forcing German companies out of Hungary and rolling out the red carpet to Chinese investors instead is damaging the whole of Europe.” The Commission must react “and swiftly sanction the breaches of the law”, the Green politician demands. The EU should also discuss stricter rules for such greenfield investments.
EU-Binnenmarkt
Translation missing.
Kamala Harris: What her presidency could mean for the Inflation Reduction Act
It could have been an appearance in which Kamala Harris clearly showed her colors. However, the US Democratic presidential candidate spoke about the climatefor just one minute and 44 seconds in the TV duel with her Republican opponent Donald Trump on ABC. And only once did the Vice-President mention the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), probably the most important climate policy legislation of the current US government. “As Vice-President, I am proud that we have invested a trillion dollars in a clean energy economy over the past four years”, she said.
Harris has so far held back with clear demands on climate policy. She also failed to provide her audience with an outlook on this during the TV debate. Observers can therefore only speculate as to what her potential presidency will mean for a sustainable economy. So far, the 59-year-old has focused on other issues, such as the high cost of living and the housing shortage in the USA. After all, this is what currently concerns Americans the most.
Even experienced political observers hardly dare to make predictions at the moment. “Harris is deliberately keeping a low profile“, Johannes Thimm, senior America analyst at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), told Table.Briefings. He therefore does not want to speculate on details.
Experts: Restraint may be political calculation
In the TV debate, Harris mainly used her time to defend herself against Trump’s attacks. She emphasized that new areas for fracking had also been designated as part of the IRA. “We have also brought domestic gas production to a record level”, she said in response to Trump’s accusation of destroying the fossil fuel industry. Experts in the USA suspect that Harris’ reticence could be a political calculation. She did not want to give her opponent any substantive points of attack, according to one interpretation.
The official election program at least stands for climate policy continuity. In the statements adopted by the Democrats at their party convention in Chicago last month, there were still several references to “Biden’s second term”. Bob Inglis, founder of the conservative climate initiative RepublicEn, sees the incentives from the IRA as a certainty if Harris is elected. “Climate action will certainly be at the top of the government agenda in a Harris administration,” the Republican and Trump opponent told Table.Briefings.
After all, the most important climate law of recent years has been extremely successful. Under the Biden administration, private companies have so far announced around $910 billion in private investment in future industries, as the White House announced a few days ago. This will primarily benefit those industries that are eligible for the massive tax breaks from the IRA. Almost half of the funds are to flow into semiconductor and electronics production, with a further $177 billion going into electric vehicle and battery production.
CO2 tax, climate lawsuits, climate-neutral economy by 2045: Harris more progressive than Biden
Matt Piotrowski believes that the current Vice-President is likely to step up the fight against climate change. “Harris’ previous stance on climate change suggests that she is likely to be more progressive than President Biden“, writes the senior director of policy and research at Washington-based consultancy Climate Advisers in an article. She could be tougher on the fossil fuel industry than her predecessor.
As Attorney General of California, Harris has repeatedly taken legal action against major oil companies, demonstrating her firm stance, writes Piotrowski. And last but not least, during her presidential bid four years ago, she called for a carbon tax and ten trillion dollars in climate spending. Her goal was a climate-neutral economy by 2045.
Her latest decisions also speak for themselves: In Tim Walz, the governor of Minnesota, Harris has brought a particularly climate-friendly deputy candidate onto the team. His state wants to switch completely to carbon-free electricity by 2040. Walz signed a law to this effect last year.
This attitude could also be reflected retrospectively in the IRA. “A new Democratic administration will have to add considerable measures to achieve the current climate target for 2030”, writes SWP analyst Sonja Thielges in a recent analysis. Some regulations for this are already in the works, such asguidelines for IRA tax breaks for clean electricity and hydrogen. Thielges expects this work to continue under Harris. In addition, other regulations are already being planned which Harris could then influence – such as the setting of emission limits for existing gas-fired power plants.
Republican states receive the most money from the IRA
Turning away from the IRA seems difficult anyway, as Thielges points out in her analysis. “To repeal a law, you need a new legislative process and, as a rule, a majority of 60 votes in the US Senate”, she writes. Not even a Republican majority could therefore jeopardize the IRA. According to current forecasts, the result would be close, Thielges emphasizes. What’s more: “The majority of the money from the law will flow to Republican states, even if they all voted against the IRA.” According to the expert, the states could therefore ensure a certain stability in US climate policy. After all, the subsidy program has cross-party supporters.
Bob Inglis from RepublicEn therefore sees the IRA as an opportunity for Harris. It will be successful with its climate policy if it can break through the polarization on the issue of climate, he said. It could achieve this by welcoming genuine conservatives in the search for solutions. Harris appears to have already made an initial concession to the Republicans a few weeks ago. As a presidential candidate four years ago, the Democrat had promised to ban fracking nationwide if elected. In an interview with the US broadcaster CNN,Harris changed her mind. She had realized that “we can grow and build a clean energy economy without banning fracking”. Laurin Meyer
Inflation Reduction Act
Translation missing.
EU-Monitoring
Sept. 16-17, 2024 Informal ministerial meeting on research Topics: Strengthening the competitiveness of European research and innovation, overcoming the fragmentation of the ERA.Info
Sept. 16-19, 2024 Plenary session of the EU Parliament Topics: – Monday: Resumption of the session and work plan. – Tuesday: Debate on foreign policy issues. – Wednesday: Debate on the presentation of the Hungarian Presidency’s program of activities, debate on the EU budget 2025, debates on cases of violations of human rights, democracy and the rule of law. – Thursday: Major questions. Draft agenda
Sept 16, 2024; 7-9 p.m. Joint meeting of the Committee on Budgets (BUDG) and the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) Topics: Dialogue on recovery and resilience with Valdis Dombrovskis (Executive Vice-President for an economy that works for people) and Paolo Gentiloni (Member of the Commission with responsibility for the economy). Draft agenda
Sept. 17, 2024 Weekly commission meeting Topics: Revision of the Council Recommendation on smoke-free areas.Draft agenda
Sept. 19-20, 2024 Informal ministerial meeting on transport Topics: Improving the competitiveness of the EU transport sector, Future funding opportunities in the transport sector, Measures and strategies for the development of a high-speed rail network, Improving connections between rural and urban areas.Info
News
EUDR: German government calls for postponement by six months
In May, German Minister for Food and Agriculture Cem Özdemirappealed to the EU Commission to amend the European Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) before it comes into force at the end of December. Little has happened since then. In a letter on behalf of the German government to the Executive Vice-President of the European Commission and Commissioner for the Environment, Maroš Šefčovič, Özdemir has now emphasized his call for the EUDR implementation to be postponed.
In the letter, which is available to Table.Briefings, Özdemir calls for the start of application of the EUDR to be “urgently” postponed by six months – from Dec. 30, 2024 to July 1, 2025. Four months before the scheduled start, important implementation elements such as the classification of Germany as a country with a low deforestation riskare missing, writes Özdemir.
Özdemir urges smooth implementation
“The EU Commission must finally come out of the summer break and provide clarity”, continued the Green politician. The conditions for adequate preparation of the economy and efficient national application must be created without delay. Companies in agriculture and forestry need sufficient time to prepare. “Otherwise there is a risk of supply chains breaking at the end of the year – to the detriment of the German and European economy, small farmers in third countries and consumers”, warns Özdemir.
Although the aim of the EUDR to strengthen the necessary global forest protection is beyond question, its implementation must be practicable, smooth and involve little bureaucracy, demands the Federal Minister of Agriculture. “The EU Commission can create all the conditions here on its own without renegotiating the EUDR.”
Members of the Brazilian government call for revision of the EUDR
Meanwhile, Germany is not the only country whose government is addressing the EU Commission with regard to the imminent implementation of the EUDR. Only on Tuesday, members of the Brazilian government sent a letter to representatives of the EU Commission urging them not to implement the provisions of the EUDR at the end of the year as planned, but to revise them so as not to jeopardize Brazilian exports.
According to the regulation for deforestation-free supply chains, as the full title suggests, companies should actually apply the rules from Dec. 30, 2024, smaller companies from the end of June 2025, when they will only be allowed to sell imports of certain products – including cocoa, coffee, palm oil, soy and wood – in the EU if the suppliers have submitted a due diligence declaration. This confirms that a product does not originate from an area deforested after Dec. 31, 2020, and that local legislation was complied with during its manufacture.
Criticism of the lack of a basis for country benchmarking
Criticism that the Commission has not yet presented important foundations for the implementation of the EUDR – such as certain guidelines and country benchmarking –has recently been heard from many quarters. With country benchmarking, the Commission wants to assign each country a specific risk level for deforestation.
On this basis, certain control quotas then apply to the individual product groups: For each product group, the national authorities must inspect one percent of market participants importing from low-risk countries, three percent for standard-risk countries and nine percent for high-risk countries. heu
Sorgfaltspflichten
Additional tariffs: This minister travels to Brussels for the showdown
Showdown on additional EV tariffs: China’s Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao will visit Brussels next week. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce announced on Thursday that Wang will meet EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis next Thursday to discuss the tariffs.
The decision on whether the additional tariffs on Chinese EVs will apply for five years from November will be made in the coming weeks – but the rift between the EU states is becoming clearer. Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez spoke out against the tariffs during his visit to Beijing this week and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed a similar sentiment.
At the upcoming binding vote in the EU Council, 15 of the 27 member governments, representing 65 percent of the population, would have to vote against the tariffs to prevent them from coming into force for five years as planned. In a preliminary vote in July, Spain had still voted in favor of the tariffs – but Beijing’s subsequent threat to impose anti-dumping duties on pork apparently had an effect on Spain, the EU’s largest producer.
Germany and several other member states had abstained. It remains to be seen whether Spain will actually vote against the tariffs. However, if this is the case, there is still a long way to go before the tariffs are stopped, according to the Council’s assessment. Several populous member states would have to switch to the camp opposed to the tariffs. ari/mgr
E-Autos
Translation missing.
G20: Digital ministers adopt measures for digital inclusion and against disinformation
At the meeting of the G20 digital ministers in Brazil, the ministers resolved to reduce digital inequalities and protect the integrity of information. They plan to sign a corresponding declaration, which was made available to Table.Breifings in advance, this Friday in Maceió. Renate Nikolay, Deputy Director-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (DG Connect), is attending the ministerial meeting on behalf of the European Commission.
Minister for Digital Volker Wissing is calling for a values-based approach to the regulation of artificial intelligence (AI) and internet governance. “Our goal is a free, open and secure internet without censorship. Artificial intelligence must not be used to manipulate people and opinions“, explained Wissing.
The ministers emphasized that an equitable and inclusive digital transformation is crucial to reduce global inequalities. They agreed to develop innovative financing mechanisms and creative strategies to strengthen the digital infrastructure. The specific needs of unconnected and underserved populations will be given special consideration. “We support the Brazilian initiative to specifically promote the use of AI in countries of the global South in order to improve challenges such as healthcare, nutrition and education”, continued Wissing.
Transparent, ethical and responsible use of AI
Further decisions by the ministers:
Strengthening information integrity: The G20 members commit to strengthening measures against disinformation and hate speech. “The integrity of information is crucial for the functioning of democracy. Citizens must know what is real or fake and they must be able to trust information”, emphasized Wissing. He pointed out the importance of these measures, especially in the 2024 election year.
Promotion of digital public infrastructures: The ministers support the expansion of secure, human-centered digital public services that respect data protection and citizens’ rights.
International cooperation for AI: The G20 welcomes cooperation in the development and implementation of AI systems to be used transparently, ethically and responsibly to close digital divides.
The resolutions should help to ensure that the digital transformation is made fairer worldwide and that more people benefit from the opportunities offered by digitalization. vis
Volker Wissing
CAP reform: Why Agora Agrar recommends different measures
The co-director of Agora Agrar, Harald Grethe, does notbelieve it makes sense to prioritize CAP direct payments to the farms with the greatest socio-economic need, as proposed by the Strategic Dialogue on Agriculture. In a new study on the role of agriculture in a climate-neutral EU, the think tank instead argues that agricultural subsidies should be fully tied to public welfare benefits.
“Direct payments are not suitable for cushioning needy households in terms of social policy“, said Grethe at the presentation of the study. There are social policy instruments for this in the individual member states. “We also don’t have the data to measure who is in need“, he points out. For example, the size of a company does not automatically provide information about its economic situation.
Grethe: No reason to promote small businesses per se in Germany
But even in a CAP geared towards the common good, as envisioned by Agora Agrar, the preservation of small farms could be subsidized in some cases. In some EU countries with a particularly large number of very small farms, these provide a large number of jobs in rural areas that other sectors cannot immediately absorb, explains the agronomist. Here, it is a public service to cushion structural change.
However, this is not about the individual needs of the companies, as proposed in the strategy dialog. Moreover, such a situation does not exist in Germany, but in Romania, for example. “In Germany, there is no reason to support small businesses per se“, says Grethe.
Think tank sees great potential for reducing emissions
Meanwhile, the study assumes that a significant reduction in emissionsispossible in agriculture: 60 percent by the middle of the century. So far, greenhouse gas emissions in the sector have stagnated for decades. It makes sense to include agriculture in European emissions trading, explains co-director Christine Chemnitz.
“Revenue from emissions trading could then be used to remunerate CO2 removals“, she suggests. However, the agricultural economist warns against including negative emissions, for example from the rewetting of moors, directly in emissions trading. Otherwise, companies could offset greenhouse gas emissions with negative emissions, which, as nature-based solutions, are often not effective in the long term. jd
Common agricultural policy
Emissions trading
GAP
GAP
Munich Security Conference: Stoltenberg to take over chairmanship
Jens Stoltenberg is to become the new Chairman of the Munich Security Conference.
The Munich Security Conference does not want to officially confirm the appointment, but according to Table.Briefings information, it is certain: Outgoing NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is to become the new chairman of the Munich Security Conference (MSC). This was first reported on Thursday by Politico and Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND). Christoph Heusgen, former top diplomat and long-standing advisor to German Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU), only took over the post from Wolfgang Ischinger in 2022. Stoltenberg would also be the first time that no German would chair the most important security policy conference in Europe.
However, Heusgen did not leave voluntarily, as Table.Briefings learned from MSC circles. Among other things, the former Merkel advisor “got on people’s nerves” with interviews, it is said. Heusgen had criticized Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip and backed UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in a ZDF interview, who accused Israel of an “oppressive occupation” and said that the bloody attacks on Israel by the terrorist militia Hamas on Oct. 7 had not taken place“in a vacuum”.
Stoltenberg is said to have expressed interest to Ischinger
Israel’s government was outraged, and there was also great irritation in the USA. Opposition to Heusgen grew in the Foundation’s Board of Trustees. In addition to the long-standing chairman Wolfgang Ischinger, the head of the Chancellery, Wolfgang Schmidt, also sits on the board. The German government had also repeatedly criticized Heusgen for its inadequate defense spending. When the outgoing head of NATO hinted to Ischinger, the Chairman of the MSC Foundation Council, in the summer that he could imagine getting involved with the MSC, the majority was quickly found.
Only Helga Schmidt, a friend of Heusgen’s, abstained from the seven-member Board of Trustees when it came to the personnel change. Heusgen is said to have turned down Ischinger’s offer to join the MSC’s prominent Advisory Council. CDU leader Friedrich Merz, with whom Merkel’s Heusgen did not have the best relationship, is also said to have been involved in the change of personnel.
MSC without German leadership for the first time
Heusgen no longer has many friends in Munich. What’s more, government circles say it is only natural that the Board of Trustees does not want to miss the opportunity when a former head of NATO, who is probably better networked in the world’s government centers than all previous MSC heads, can imagine the post. This was a “historic opportunity” to increase the international significance of the conference, according to the Board of Trustees. Heusgen and Ischinger declined to comment.
In Russia’s war against Ukraine, the 69-year-old Heusgen insisted early on on conducting negotiations and finding a solution along the lines of the Minsk Agreement. In US circles in particular, Heusgen was not seen as the ideal choice for this approach. With Stoltenberg, it was hoped that the Munich Security Conference would have someone with the urgency and understanding for the conflict who could develop the MSC into a forum at which binding agreements could be concluded. So far, the MSC has served as a platform for informal talks between high-ranking politicians and experts.
Stoltenberg will hand over his office as NATO Secretary General to former Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Oct. 1. Stoltenberg headed the Western defense alliance for ten years; he was Norwegian Prime Minister from 2000 to 2001 and from 2005 to 2013. He also led his country through the difficult period following the attacks in Oslo’s government district and on the island of Utøya in 2011, in which right-wing terrorist Anders Behring Breivik killed a total of 77 people, 32 of them younger than 18 years. klm/dpa
Munich Security Conference
Scholz and the VCI: praise for the Chancellor
When business leaders talk about the “traffic light” government, the tone has recently fluctuated between critical and indignant. Olaf Scholz must have been all the more surprised on Thursday after his appearance at the “Chemistry and Pharma Summit” in Berlin. He not only received a lot of applause from the industry, but also unreserved praise from Markus Steilemann, President of the organizing chemical association VCI.
Steilemann said that he is usually known for being critical. But: “Today is simply the day to say: thank you very much.” Scholz had come “with so many good messages in his luggage” that he did not want to “make any further demands” of the Chancellor. The VCI boss was also surprisingly positive about the location. In the chemical industry, Germany is “still one of the world leaders”, said Steilemann; the “innovative strength” is “gigantic”.
Scholz calls for a ‘practicable’ chemicals directive
In fact, Scholz fulfilled many of the industry’s wishes. As reported in advance by Table.Briefings, he announced in his speech that the German government would campaign in the EU against an “undifferentiated total ban” on the chemical group PFAS. “Where there are still no alternatives and where the benefits outweigh the risks, their use must remain possible”, said the Chancellor.
He also advocated “practicable and balanced regulation” for the REACH chemicals directive; other EU directives should only be “implemented one-to-one” in the future and new free trade agreements should be tackled. With regard to grid fees, Scholz opposed a current proposal by the Federal Network Agency, which would mean higher costs for companies with inflexible electricity consumption. mkr
Chemieindustrie
Nürburgring: Commission investigates alleged German state aid
The Commission is investigating suspected anti-competitive state aid for the Nürburgring race track. This is the Commission’s response to a court ruling from 2021, in which the European Court of Justice ruled that the Commission must re-examine whether the sale of the Nürburgring in 2014 involved the granting of state aid. According to the EU’s highest court, the Commission had not sufficiently investigated whether the once state-owned facility was wrongly sold at a lower price than possible.
In 2014, the automotive supplier Capricorn was awarded the contract for the legendary race track in the Eifel for around €77 million. The state of Rhineland-Palatinate had invested almost half a billion euros in its expansion, including a new leisure park. According to the ECJ, however, there were “grounds for concern” that should have prompted the EU Commission to initiate a formal investigation.
The Commission now wants to investigate this again in detail. The question is whether Capricorn, for example, benefited from the tendering procedure. All parties involved can comment on the procedure. The Commission emphasizes that the investigation will be conducted with an open mind. dpa
Wettbewerbspolitik
Must Reads
Dessert
Government budget crisis hits German School in Brussels
The budget woes of the Berlin traffic light have consequences for the German School in Brussels. The international school with excellence status is attended by many children of EU diplomats and Members of Parliament. On Wednesday, an email arrived in parents’ inboxes that began like this: “The German government’s budget has been preoccupying politicians, the media and those directly affected in Germany for weeks.” The cuts that have been decided upon also affect the Federal Office for Foreign Affairs, which is responsible for schools abroad. “Against this background, we have been informed by the German authorities that the planned new building will not take place.”
Instead, the aim is to renovate the existing building from the 1970s. “As a first step, the Foreign Office will launch a study to clarify the feasibility and cost structure of this reorientation.” Some students may be relieved. In the case of a new building, they would probably have had to study in temporary facilities for the rest of their school years. However, it is also clear that the decision from Berlin will destroy a lot of money. Architects were commissioned to plan the new building. Everyone was just waiting for construction to start. The damage is likely to amount to asix- to seven-figure euro sum. mgr
The EU finance ministers are meeting in Budapest today. Or to be more precise: A few finance ministers and several state secretaries and senior officials are meeting in Hungary’s capital. Many ministers are staying away from the informal meeting of the Council of Finance Ministers in protest against the Hungarian Council Presidency.
On the sidelines of the meeting, the ministers and officials will discuss financial aid for Ukraine, among other things. Although the EU and the G7 have actually decided to use the profits from the frozen Russian assets as a guarantee for a loan to support Ukraine with $50 billion, the technical implementation is not yet clear.
The USA is demanding a guarantee that Russian assets will remain frozen. However, the EU cannot guarantee this. This is because the sanctions have to be renewed again and again to ensure that they do not expire. However, the US needs the guarantee so that the White House can approve the loan on its own authority. If the credit risk is too high, the Republican-dominated Congress would have to vote on it – with an uncertain outcome.
Time is pressing. Not only because the presidential elections are coming up in the USA, but also because the EU itself is under pressure. A provision of the MFF regulation expires at the end of the year. This allows the EU to grant its share of the $50 billion macro-financial assistance for Ukraine without Hungary’s renewed consent.
In order to discuss this increasingly urgent problem, von der Leyen’s head of cabinet Björn Seibert invited the EU ambassadors to breakfast this morning.
We wish you a successful day!
Your János Allenbach-Ammann
Feature
Discrimination against EU companies: Commission avoids confrontation with Orbán
High-level corruption that goes unpunished, courts that follow the same rules, discriminatory LGBTQ laws: The EU Commission has taken vigorous action against many abuses in Hungary. It has frozen billions in funds and taken Budapest to the European Court of Justice (ECJ). However, the Brussels authority is conspicuously hesitant to react when Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government uses harsh methods to force companies from other EU states out of the country. This approach affects a core area of the European project: the internal market.
For years, Orbán has made no secret of the fact that he wants to “Magyarize” strategic areas of the Hungarian economy. In a speech to the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce in 2022, he listed the sectors in which he wanted to see more domestic ownership: telecommunications, building materials, insurance and retail. In these sectors, Hungarian investors are gradually taking over business shares from foreign competitors, often with state support. The government does not shy away from big names such as Vodafone or Spar.
The Commission has done little about this so far. In the latest rule of law report, the authority only touches on the shortcomings at the end of the 37-page document. A spokesperson refers to 13 ongoing infringement proceedings against Hungary in the area of the internal market. However, these are mainly aimed at just one sector: construction materials.
‘Gross violation of the rules of the internal market’
Resentment is growing in the business community. “The Hungarian government’s actions are a gross violation of the rules of the internal market”, says Philipp Haußmann, Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations. “It is high time that the EU Commission took action against this and protected the internal market.”
The German government is now also exerting pressure: In August, it sent a letter to the Commission calling on it to take action against Hungary’s procedure, which it considers to be contrary to European law. The Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs, Franziska Brantner (Greens), announced on Thursday in the Bundestag’s European Affairs Committee that she would also lobby the new Commission.
Representatives of the Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations and the Austrian Chamber of Commerce had made representations in Brussels in February. They voiced their concerns to Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager and Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders, among others. In the federal government, Brantner in particular has taken up the issue. However, without achieving much so far.
Buyers are often close to the government
German and European companies continue to be “systematically discriminated against” by the Hungarian authorities in these sectors, criticized Haußmann. The authorities impose special taxes on the companies, refuse to issue permits or subject them to arbitrary controls. “As a result, the companies concerned are in the red and are then forced to sell,often to businessmen with close ties to the government.“
Some examples:
Mobile communications: At the beginning of 2023, the British mobile communications group Vodafone sold its Hungarian business for €1.7 billion to a subsidiary of the Hungarian telecommunications group 4iG and the state-owned Corvinus investment fund. The government had previously increased taxes on telecom revenues. The government dispelled competition concerns with a ministerial decree, stating that the deal was of national strategic relevance.
Airport: In June, Orbán’s government achieved its goal and took over 80 percent of the shares in the operating company of Budapest’s Ferihegy Airport. This was preceded by years of harassment against the majority owner, Düsseldorf-based AviAlliance. The authorities had systematically denied permits, for example for a new terminal, a VIP gate with a view of Hungary’s EU presidency or simply for cafés in the waiting area.
Building materials: Foreign investors in the building materials industry have been subject to a particularly wide range of harassment for years. For example, a 90 percent special tax was imposed on Heidelberg Materials and price and production targets were imposed that pushed the Hungarian subsidiary directly into the red. The company had previously rejected a takeover bid for its subsidiaries. Years after the initial complaints, Heidelberg Materials is still waiting for a ruling from the ECJ. A year ago, Construction Minister Janos Lazar openly advised “foreign cement companies” to sell their subsidiaries to Hungarian entrepreneurs or the state.
Retail: In 2020, Viktor Orbán’s government introduced a retail tax that obliges large foreign food companies to pay 4.5 percent on their annual turnover. In addition, certain quantities of sugar had to be kept in stock and whole milk could only be sold at a certain price. At the end of November 2023, it was announced that the French retail chain Auchan was selling almost half of its Hungarian business to the Indotek Group owned by billionaire Daniel Jellinek, who, according to media reports, is close to Orbán’s son-in-law. The Austrian retail giant Spar intervened in Brussels.
In the summer, Orbán’s chief of staff Gergely Gulyas also announced a “defense tax”, which is intended to siphon off excessive profits from banks, energy companies and multinationals, for example. The specific details are unclear, but are fueling fears among local European companies.
Companies shy away from publicity and courts
The affected companies themselves rarely talk publicly about the harassment – “for fear of further reprisals”, says Haußmann. Only Spar boss Hans Reisch decided to take the high road: He lodged a complaint with the EU Commission in the spring and says in interviews that Orbán hinted that business would be easier if the state received a stake in the company. Spar also appealed to the court in Szeged against a fine for violating the price and quantity regulations – and was upheld by the European Court of Justice yesterday.
However, other companies are reluctant to take legal action due to the length of proceedings before national or European courts, writes York Albrecht from the Institute for European Politics in a new study. A “systematic dismantling of fair economic competition, which forms the basis of the European internal market” can be observed in Hungary. The existing EU instruments are failing to counter these illiberal methods. Therefore, “there is a de facto protection gap for the security of investments in the internal market”, according to the study.
Special taxes never properly illuminated
MEP Monika Hohlmeier (CSU), member of the Committee on Budgetary Control, criticizes the Commission: “I very much regret that under Ms Vestager and Mr Breton, the competition law issues with price caps and special taxeswere never properly examined.” In addition, the topics should be included in the annual rule of law reports: “If a country breaks the basic rules of the internal market and European companies can no longer set up freely or are systematically harassed, this should be a core area.”
Ursula von der Leyen announced in the political guidelines that the internal market dimension would be included in the rule of law report, according to the Commission. This is particularly with regard to SMEs that operate across borders.
Silo thinking as a problem
Green MEP Daniel Freund sees a problem in the Commission’s silo mentality. Justice Commissioner Reynders is concerned with the independence of the courts, while other Commissioners are looking at the correct use of money from the structural funds, the ARF funds or competition issues. They lack an overview of Viktor Orbán’s strategic approach, especially when it comes to internal market issues. “Nobody is looking at exactly how Orbán’s game is being played and what could be done to counter it”, said Freund.
In Berlin and Brussels, it is suspected that von der Leyen and Scholz have so far shied away from open conflict with Orbán in order not to drive Hungary’s prime minister even further into the arms of Russia and China. Budapest is trying to attract Chinese investors, especially in the field of electromobility. The prime minister can also block important EU decisions, such as sanctions against Moscow.
Anton Hofreiter, Chairman of the Europe Committee, believes that such considerations are wrong. “The fact that Orbán is currently forcing German companies out of Hungary and rolling out the red carpet to Chinese investors instead is damaging the whole of Europe.” The Commission must react “and swiftly sanction the breaches of the law”, the Green politician demands. The EU should also discuss stricter rules for such greenfield investments.
EU-Binnenmarkt
Translation missing.
Kamala Harris: What her presidency could mean for the Inflation Reduction Act
It could have been an appearance in which Kamala Harris clearly showed her colors. However, the US Democratic presidential candidate spoke about the climatefor just one minute and 44 seconds in the TV duel with her Republican opponent Donald Trump on ABC. And only once did the Vice-President mention the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), probably the most important climate policy legislation of the current US government. “As Vice-President, I am proud that we have invested a trillion dollars in a clean energy economy over the past four years”, she said.
Harris has so far held back with clear demands on climate policy. She also failed to provide her audience with an outlook on this during the TV debate. Observers can therefore only speculate as to what her potential presidency will mean for a sustainable economy. So far, the 59-year-old has focused on other issues, such as the high cost of living and the housing shortage in the USA. After all, this is what currently concerns Americans the most.
Even experienced political observers hardly dare to make predictions at the moment. “Harris is deliberately keeping a low profile“, Johannes Thimm, senior America analyst at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), told Table.Briefings. He therefore does not want to speculate on details.
Experts: Restraint may be political calculation
In the TV debate, Harris mainly used her time to defend herself against Trump’s attacks. She emphasized that new areas for fracking had also been designated as part of the IRA. “We have also brought domestic gas production to a record level”, she said in response to Trump’s accusation of destroying the fossil fuel industry. Experts in the USA suspect that Harris’ reticence could be a political calculation. She did not want to give her opponent any substantive points of attack, according to one interpretation.
The official election program at least stands for climate policy continuity. In the statements adopted by the Democrats at their party convention in Chicago last month, there were still several references to “Biden’s second term”. Bob Inglis, founder of the conservative climate initiative RepublicEn, sees the incentives from the IRA as a certainty if Harris is elected. “Climate action will certainly be at the top of the government agenda in a Harris administration,” the Republican and Trump opponent told Table.Briefings.
After all, the most important climate law of recent years has been extremely successful. Under the Biden administration, private companies have so far announced around $910 billion in private investment in future industries, as the White House announced a few days ago. This will primarily benefit those industries that are eligible for the massive tax breaks from the IRA. Almost half of the funds are to flow into semiconductor and electronics production, with a further $177 billion going into electric vehicle and battery production.
CO2 tax, climate lawsuits, climate-neutral economy by 2045: Harris more progressive than Biden
Matt Piotrowski believes that the current Vice-President is likely to step up the fight against climate change. “Harris’ previous stance on climate change suggests that she is likely to be more progressive than President Biden“, writes the senior director of policy and research at Washington-based consultancy Climate Advisers in an article. She could be tougher on the fossil fuel industry than her predecessor.
As Attorney General of California, Harris has repeatedly taken legal action against major oil companies, demonstrating her firm stance, writes Piotrowski. And last but not least, during her presidential bid four years ago, she called for a carbon tax and ten trillion dollars in climate spending. Her goal was a climate-neutral economy by 2045.
Her latest decisions also speak for themselves: In Tim Walz, the governor of Minnesota, Harris has brought a particularly climate-friendly deputy candidate onto the team. His state wants to switch completely to carbon-free electricity by 2040. Walz signed a law to this effect last year.
This attitude could also be reflected retrospectively in the IRA. “A new Democratic administration will have to add considerable measures to achieve the current climate target for 2030”, writes SWP analyst Sonja Thielges in a recent analysis. Some regulations for this are already in the works, such asguidelines for IRA tax breaks for clean electricity and hydrogen. Thielges expects this work to continue under Harris. In addition, other regulations are already being planned which Harris could then influence – such as the setting of emission limits for existing gas-fired power plants.
Republican states receive the most money from the IRA
Turning away from the IRA seems difficult anyway, as Thielges points out in her analysis. “To repeal a law, you need a new legislative process and, as a rule, a majority of 60 votes in the US Senate”, she writes. Not even a Republican majority could therefore jeopardize the IRA. According to current forecasts, the result would be close, Thielges emphasizes. What’s more: “The majority of the money from the law will flow to Republican states, even if they all voted against the IRA.” According to the expert, the states could therefore ensure a certain stability in US climate policy. After all, the subsidy program has cross-party supporters.
Bob Inglis from RepublicEn therefore sees the IRA as an opportunity for Harris. It will be successful with its climate policy if it can break through the polarization on the issue of climate, he said. It could achieve this by welcoming genuine conservatives in the search for solutions. Harris appears to have already made an initial concession to the Republicans a few weeks ago. As a presidential candidate four years ago, the Democrat had promised to ban fracking nationwide if elected. In an interview with the US broadcaster CNN,Harris changed her mind. She had realized that “we can grow and build a clean energy economy without banning fracking”. Laurin Meyer
Inflation Reduction Act
Translation missing.
EU-Monitoring
Sept. 16-17, 2024 Informal ministerial meeting on research Topics: Strengthening the competitiveness of European research and innovation, overcoming the fragmentation of the ERA.Info
Sept. 16-19, 2024 Plenary session of the EU Parliament Topics: – Monday: Resumption of the session and work plan. – Tuesday: Debate on foreign policy issues. – Wednesday: Debate on the presentation of the Hungarian Presidency’s program of activities, debate on the EU budget 2025, debates on cases of violations of human rights, democracy and the rule of law. – Thursday: Major questions. Draft agenda
Sept 16, 2024; 7-9 p.m. Joint meeting of the Committee on Budgets (BUDG) and the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) Topics: Dialogue on recovery and resilience with Valdis Dombrovskis (Executive Vice-President for an economy that works for people) and Paolo Gentiloni (Member of the Commission with responsibility for the economy). Draft agenda
Sept. 17, 2024 Weekly commission meeting Topics: Revision of the Council Recommendation on smoke-free areas.Draft agenda
Sept. 19-20, 2024 Informal ministerial meeting on transport Topics: Improving the competitiveness of the EU transport sector, Future funding opportunities in the transport sector, Measures and strategies for the development of a high-speed rail network, Improving connections between rural and urban areas.Info
News
EUDR: German government calls for postponement by six months
In May, German Minister for Food and Agriculture Cem Özdemirappealed to the EU Commission to amend the European Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) before it comes into force at the end of December. Little has happened since then. In a letter on behalf of the German government to the Executive Vice-President of the European Commission and Commissioner for the Environment, Maroš Šefčovič, Özdemir has now emphasized his call for the EUDR implementation to be postponed.
In the letter, which is available to Table.Briefings, Özdemir calls for the start of application of the EUDR to be “urgently” postponed by six months – from Dec. 30, 2024 to July 1, 2025. Four months before the scheduled start, important implementation elements such as the classification of Germany as a country with a low deforestation riskare missing, writes Özdemir.
Özdemir urges smooth implementation
“The EU Commission must finally come out of the summer break and provide clarity”, continued the Green politician. The conditions for adequate preparation of the economy and efficient national application must be created without delay. Companies in agriculture and forestry need sufficient time to prepare. “Otherwise there is a risk of supply chains breaking at the end of the year – to the detriment of the German and European economy, small farmers in third countries and consumers”, warns Özdemir.
Although the aim of the EUDR to strengthen the necessary global forest protection is beyond question, its implementation must be practicable, smooth and involve little bureaucracy, demands the Federal Minister of Agriculture. “The EU Commission can create all the conditions here on its own without renegotiating the EUDR.”
Members of the Brazilian government call for revision of the EUDR
Meanwhile, Germany is not the only country whose government is addressing the EU Commission with regard to the imminent implementation of the EUDR. Only on Tuesday, members of the Brazilian government sent a letter to representatives of the EU Commission urging them not to implement the provisions of the EUDR at the end of the year as planned, but to revise them so as not to jeopardize Brazilian exports.
According to the regulation for deforestation-free supply chains, as the full title suggests, companies should actually apply the rules from Dec. 30, 2024, smaller companies from the end of June 2025, when they will only be allowed to sell imports of certain products – including cocoa, coffee, palm oil, soy and wood – in the EU if the suppliers have submitted a due diligence declaration. This confirms that a product does not originate from an area deforested after Dec. 31, 2020, and that local legislation was complied with during its manufacture.
Criticism of the lack of a basis for country benchmarking
Criticism that the Commission has not yet presented important foundations for the implementation of the EUDR – such as certain guidelines and country benchmarking –has recently been heard from many quarters. With country benchmarking, the Commission wants to assign each country a specific risk level for deforestation.
On this basis, certain control quotas then apply to the individual product groups: For each product group, the national authorities must inspect one percent of market participants importing from low-risk countries, three percent for standard-risk countries and nine percent for high-risk countries. heu
Sorgfaltspflichten
Additional tariffs: This minister travels to Brussels for the showdown
Showdown on additional EV tariffs: China’s Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao will visit Brussels next week. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce announced on Thursday that Wang will meet EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis next Thursday to discuss the tariffs.
The decision on whether the additional tariffs on Chinese EVs will apply for five years from November will be made in the coming weeks – but the rift between the EU states is becoming clearer. Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez spoke out against the tariffs during his visit to Beijing this week and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed a similar sentiment.
At the upcoming binding vote in the EU Council, 15 of the 27 member governments, representing 65 percent of the population, would have to vote against the tariffs to prevent them from coming into force for five years as planned. In a preliminary vote in July, Spain had still voted in favor of the tariffs – but Beijing’s subsequent threat to impose anti-dumping duties on pork apparently had an effect on Spain, the EU’s largest producer.
Germany and several other member states had abstained. It remains to be seen whether Spain will actually vote against the tariffs. However, if this is the case, there is still a long way to go before the tariffs are stopped, according to the Council’s assessment. Several populous member states would have to switch to the camp opposed to the tariffs. ari/mgr
E-Autos
Translation missing.
G20: Digital ministers adopt measures for digital inclusion and against disinformation
At the meeting of the G20 digital ministers in Brazil, the ministers resolved to reduce digital inequalities and protect the integrity of information. They plan to sign a corresponding declaration, which was made available to Table.Breifings in advance, this Friday in Maceió. Renate Nikolay, Deputy Director-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (DG Connect), is attending the ministerial meeting on behalf of the European Commission.
Minister for Digital Volker Wissing is calling for a values-based approach to the regulation of artificial intelligence (AI) and internet governance. “Our goal is a free, open and secure internet without censorship. Artificial intelligence must not be used to manipulate people and opinions“, explained Wissing.
The ministers emphasized that an equitable and inclusive digital transformation is crucial to reduce global inequalities. They agreed to develop innovative financing mechanisms and creative strategies to strengthen the digital infrastructure. The specific needs of unconnected and underserved populations will be given special consideration. “We support the Brazilian initiative to specifically promote the use of AI in countries of the global South in order to improve challenges such as healthcare, nutrition and education”, continued Wissing.
Transparent, ethical and responsible use of AI
Further decisions by the ministers:
Strengthening information integrity: The G20 members commit to strengthening measures against disinformation and hate speech. “The integrity of information is crucial for the functioning of democracy. Citizens must know what is real or fake and they must be able to trust information”, emphasized Wissing. He pointed out the importance of these measures, especially in the 2024 election year.
Promotion of digital public infrastructures: The ministers support the expansion of secure, human-centered digital public services that respect data protection and citizens’ rights.
International cooperation for AI: The G20 welcomes cooperation in the development and implementation of AI systems to be used transparently, ethically and responsibly to close digital divides.
The resolutions should help to ensure that the digital transformation is made fairer worldwide and that more people benefit from the opportunities offered by digitalization. vis
Volker Wissing
CAP reform: Why Agora Agrar recommends different measures
The co-director of Agora Agrar, Harald Grethe, does notbelieve it makes sense to prioritize CAP direct payments to the farms with the greatest socio-economic need, as proposed by the Strategic Dialogue on Agriculture. In a new study on the role of agriculture in a climate-neutral EU, the think tank instead argues that agricultural subsidies should be fully tied to public welfare benefits.
“Direct payments are not suitable for cushioning needy households in terms of social policy“, said Grethe at the presentation of the study. There are social policy instruments for this in the individual member states. “We also don’t have the data to measure who is in need“, he points out. For example, the size of a company does not automatically provide information about its economic situation.
Grethe: No reason to promote small businesses per se in Germany
But even in a CAP geared towards the common good, as envisioned by Agora Agrar, the preservation of small farms could be subsidized in some cases. In some EU countries with a particularly large number of very small farms, these provide a large number of jobs in rural areas that other sectors cannot immediately absorb, explains the agronomist. Here, it is a public service to cushion structural change.
However, this is not about the individual needs of the companies, as proposed in the strategy dialog. Moreover, such a situation does not exist in Germany, but in Romania, for example. “In Germany, there is no reason to support small businesses per se“, says Grethe.
Think tank sees great potential for reducing emissions
Meanwhile, the study assumes that a significant reduction in emissionsispossible in agriculture: 60 percent by the middle of the century. So far, greenhouse gas emissions in the sector have stagnated for decades. It makes sense to include agriculture in European emissions trading, explains co-director Christine Chemnitz.
“Revenue from emissions trading could then be used to remunerate CO2 removals“, she suggests. However, the agricultural economist warns against including negative emissions, for example from the rewetting of moors, directly in emissions trading. Otherwise, companies could offset greenhouse gas emissions with negative emissions, which, as nature-based solutions, are often not effective in the long term. jd
Common agricultural policy
Emissions trading
GAP
GAP
Munich Security Conference: Stoltenberg to take over chairmanship
Jens Stoltenberg is to become the new Chairman of the Munich Security Conference.
The Munich Security Conference does not want to officially confirm the appointment, but according to Table.Briefings information, it is certain: Outgoing NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is to become the new chairman of the Munich Security Conference (MSC). This was first reported on Thursday by Politico and Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND). Christoph Heusgen, former top diplomat and long-standing advisor to German Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU), only took over the post from Wolfgang Ischinger in 2022. Stoltenberg would also be the first time that no German would chair the most important security policy conference in Europe.
However, Heusgen did not leave voluntarily, as Table.Briefings learned from MSC circles. Among other things, the former Merkel advisor “got on people’s nerves” with interviews, it is said. Heusgen had criticized Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip and backed UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in a ZDF interview, who accused Israel of an “oppressive occupation” and said that the bloody attacks on Israel by the terrorist militia Hamas on Oct. 7 had not taken place“in a vacuum”.
Stoltenberg is said to have expressed interest to Ischinger
Israel’s government was outraged, and there was also great irritation in the USA. Opposition to Heusgen grew in the Foundation’s Board of Trustees. In addition to the long-standing chairman Wolfgang Ischinger, the head of the Chancellery, Wolfgang Schmidt, also sits on the board. The German government had also repeatedly criticized Heusgen for its inadequate defense spending. When the outgoing head of NATO hinted to Ischinger, the Chairman of the MSC Foundation Council, in the summer that he could imagine getting involved with the MSC, the majority was quickly found.
Only Helga Schmidt, a friend of Heusgen’s, abstained from the seven-member Board of Trustees when it came to the personnel change. Heusgen is said to have turned down Ischinger’s offer to join the MSC’s prominent Advisory Council. CDU leader Friedrich Merz, with whom Merkel’s Heusgen did not have the best relationship, is also said to have been involved in the change of personnel.
MSC without German leadership for the first time
Heusgen no longer has many friends in Munich. What’s more, government circles say it is only natural that the Board of Trustees does not want to miss the opportunity when a former head of NATO, who is probably better networked in the world’s government centers than all previous MSC heads, can imagine the post. This was a “historic opportunity” to increase the international significance of the conference, according to the Board of Trustees. Heusgen and Ischinger declined to comment.
In Russia’s war against Ukraine, the 69-year-old Heusgen insisted early on on conducting negotiations and finding a solution along the lines of the Minsk Agreement. In US circles in particular, Heusgen was not seen as the ideal choice for this approach. With Stoltenberg, it was hoped that the Munich Security Conference would have someone with the urgency and understanding for the conflict who could develop the MSC into a forum at which binding agreements could be concluded. So far, the MSC has served as a platform for informal talks between high-ranking politicians and experts.
Stoltenberg will hand over his office as NATO Secretary General to former Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Oct. 1. Stoltenberg headed the Western defense alliance for ten years; he was Norwegian Prime Minister from 2000 to 2001 and from 2005 to 2013. He also led his country through the difficult period following the attacks in Oslo’s government district and on the island of Utøya in 2011, in which right-wing terrorist Anders Behring Breivik killed a total of 77 people, 32 of them younger than 18 years. klm/dpa
Munich Security Conference
Scholz and the VCI: praise for the Chancellor
When business leaders talk about the “traffic light” government, the tone has recently fluctuated between critical and indignant. Olaf Scholz must have been all the more surprised on Thursday after his appearance at the “Chemistry and Pharma Summit” in Berlin. He not only received a lot of applause from the industry, but also unreserved praise from Markus Steilemann, President of the organizing chemical association VCI.
Steilemann said that he is usually known for being critical. But: “Today is simply the day to say: thank you very much.” Scholz had come “with so many good messages in his luggage” that he did not want to “make any further demands” of the Chancellor. The VCI boss was also surprisingly positive about the location. In the chemical industry, Germany is “still one of the world leaders”, said Steilemann; the “innovative strength” is “gigantic”.
Scholz calls for a ‘practicable’ chemicals directive
In fact, Scholz fulfilled many of the industry’s wishes. As reported in advance by Table.Briefings, he announced in his speech that the German government would campaign in the EU against an “undifferentiated total ban” on the chemical group PFAS. “Where there are still no alternatives and where the benefits outweigh the risks, their use must remain possible”, said the Chancellor.
He also advocated “practicable and balanced regulation” for the REACH chemicals directive; other EU directives should only be “implemented one-to-one” in the future and new free trade agreements should be tackled. With regard to grid fees, Scholz opposed a current proposal by the Federal Network Agency, which would mean higher costs for companies with inflexible electricity consumption. mkr
Chemieindustrie
Nürburgring: Commission investigates alleged German state aid
The Commission is investigating suspected anti-competitive state aid for the Nürburgring race track. This is the Commission’s response to a court ruling from 2021, in which the European Court of Justice ruled that the Commission must re-examine whether the sale of the Nürburgring in 2014 involved the granting of state aid. According to the EU’s highest court, the Commission had not sufficiently investigated whether the once state-owned facility was wrongly sold at a lower price than possible.
In 2014, the automotive supplier Capricorn was awarded the contract for the legendary race track in the Eifel for around €77 million. The state of Rhineland-Palatinate had invested almost half a billion euros in its expansion, including a new leisure park. According to the ECJ, however, there were “grounds for concern” that should have prompted the EU Commission to initiate a formal investigation.
The Commission now wants to investigate this again in detail. The question is whether Capricorn, for example, benefited from the tendering procedure. All parties involved can comment on the procedure. The Commission emphasizes that the investigation will be conducted with an open mind. dpa
Wettbewerbspolitik
Must Reads
Dessert
Government budget crisis hits German School in Brussels
The budget woes of the Berlin traffic light have consequences for the German School in Brussels. The international school with excellence status is attended by many children of EU diplomats and Members of Parliament. On Wednesday, an email arrived in parents’ inboxes that began like this: “The German government’s budget has been preoccupying politicians, the media and those directly affected in Germany for weeks.” The cuts that have been decided upon also affect the Federal Office for Foreign Affairs, which is responsible for schools abroad. “Against this background, we have been informed by the German authorities that the planned new building will not take place.”
Instead, the aim is to renovate the existing building from the 1970s. “As a first step, the Foreign Office will launch a study to clarify the feasibility and cost structure of this reorientation.” Some students may be relieved. In the case of a new building, they would probably have had to study in temporary facilities for the rest of their school years. However, it is also clear that the decision from Berlin will destroy a lot of money. Architects were commissioned to plan the new building. Everyone was just waiting for construction to start. The damage is likely to amount to asix- to seven-figure euro sum. mgr
