It was only a matter of time before he left. Now the time has come. Diederik Samsom is leaving the Commission. As head of Frans Timmermans‘ cabinet, the Dutchman played a significant role in earning Timmermans the questionable nickname “climate Taliban” in Brussels. Samsom was an ideologue and driver in the background. He sharpened the Green Deal proposals. He was not a classic Commission official. Before he came to Brussels, he wasa Greenpeace activist and also once a top politician, namely head of the socialist Partij van de Arbeid in the Netherlands.
Be it the 2035 ban on combustion engines for new vehicles, the Nature Restoration Act or the Pesticides Ordinance: Samsom has left his mark on all legislative proposals that hurt car manufacturers and farmers. He was a red rag for leading EPP environmental politicians, who had been calling for his replacement for months. When Timmermans, Vice-President for the Green Deal, unexpectedly left for the Netherlands in the summer and wanted to become head of government there, a climate change began in the Commission concerning environmental legislation. Proposals for the Green Deal that were presented after Timmermans’ departure were less radical.
Wopke Hoekstra, the Christian Democrat who succeeded Timmermans, initially held on to Samsom. He presumably needed the shrewd negotiator at the climate conference. Now Samsom and Hoekstra are parting ways. As de Volkskrant writes, Samsom will remain in Brussels. He will first write the climate program for the next Green Deal 2.0 mandate. If that’s true, you’ll have to dress warmly.
What will become of the European Peace Facility (EPF), which is used to finance European arms deliveries to Ukraine? A complicated dispute has broken out between the EU states over this question, in which Germany is also involved. A compromise proposal from the European External Action Service (EEAS) has so far failed to resolve the conflict. No agreement is expected at the special EU summit on Feb. 1, according to Brussels, but there is positive momentum.
The future of the EPF was actually supposed to be decided at the last summit in December. It was agreed that the fund, which was originally designed for peace missions and financed from national contributions outside the EU budget, would be replaced and a new “Ukraine Assistance Fund” (UAF) created. This would then be used to finance arms deliveries – without the problems that have recently plagued the EPF.
Germany: Fully recognize bilateral aid
But nothing came of it. Germany demanded that bilateral aid to Ukraine be fully credited. It “could not agree to any UAF” that would not treat bilateral aid “100 percent as an equivalent alternative to financial contributions to the EPF”, according to a wire report obtained by Table.Media. Germany has already pledged €8 billion worth of arms aid to Ukraine for the current year.
The German government also believes that governance needs to be changed. This should prevent individual countries such as Hungary from delaying the disbursement of EPF funds through a veto. It is important that military aid reaches Ukraine without delay, explained German EU Ambassador Michael Clauß. All countries would have to make higher contributions in 2024 – this was the real sticking point in the negotiations.
Discussions instead of agreement
So far, however, the debate continues to revolve around €5 billion, which had already been earmarked for the rearmament of Ukraine at the end of 2023. “I hope we will reach an agreement on increasing the European Peace Facility by five billion euros so that we can set up an aid fund for Ukraine”, said EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell in Brussels on Monday.
According to diplomats, no agreement was reached at a meeting of the Permanent Representatives and the Political and Security Committee (PSC) in Brussels on Wednesday. A non-paper from the EEAS was described by all sides as a good basis for discussion. They were moving in the right direction, it was said, including from Berlin.
When comparing contributions to the new Ukraine Fund, bilateral aid should also be taken into account in the future, as the German government is demanding. However, the focus of the joint financing should be on joint armaments projects – a wish that Paris has had for years. “Buy European” would be the name of the game in the future when it comes to aid for Ukraine. In addition, the rules for the reimbursement of national contributions are to be tightened.
Cash-strapped coffers cause problems
This is still too little for Berlin, but it is already too much for many other EU countries. Smaller countries in particular continue to rely on the usual reimbursement from the EPF. There are also concerns about joint arms production – it would be too slow and too expensive. However, the main problem is that budgets are tight everywhere. Germany was already struggling to increase its arms aid. Other countries are simply unable to do so.
But the pressure is increasing, as the latest statements from Berlin show. “In the end, it cannot be the case that Germany does more financially so that others can continue to do less”, said Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP). “If 50 percent of all European aid comes from Germany, then there is a danger of overstretching our fiscal possibilities.”
Scholz and Lindner pile on the pressure
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) expressed a similar view. “The contributions that the European states have so far earmarked for 2024 are not yet large enough”, Scholz told the German newspaper Die Zeit. “Europe must discuss what each country can contribute so that we can significantly increase our support.” He is likely to address the contentious issue at the special EU summit on Feb. 1.
Budget expert and spokesperson for the German Greens in the European Parliament, Rasmus Andresen, urges urgency: “We cannot afford to spend weeks and months arguing about the type and amount of European support for Ukraine“, he told Table.Media. “Especially now, when support from the USA is also declining and the worst is to be feared with a possible second Trump term in office, the European Union must be a reliable partner.”
Armor
Ukraine
Ukraine War
European Court of Auditors gives scathing report on CO2 fleet regulation
EU fleet legislation has not led to the desired reduction in CO2 emissions from newly registered vehicles. Only after 2020, eleven years after the first CO2 fleet limit regulation came into force, which prescribes specific upper limits for CO2 emissions for manufacturers, did CO2 emissions from passenger cars begin to fall significantly. The decline was also only due to the higher market share of battery electric vehicles. CO2 emissions from new vehicles with combustion engines did not decrease significantly. The CO2 fleet legislation is the EU’s key instrument for reducing CO2 emissions from new vehicles.
This is the damning verdict of the European Court of Auditors in its special report “Reducing CO2 emissions from passenger cars”. The report, for which Member Pietro Russo is responsible, is based on research in three Member States, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands.
Wrong incentives were set
The report also makes it clear that the methodology of CO2 measurement has long provided manufacturers with the wrong incentives. In the period from 2009 to 2020, for example, the average emissions generated during practical driving did not fall. This was mainly due to the fact that “manufacturers focused on reducing emissions measured in the laboratory rather than on reducing actual emissions”. It was not until 2017 that a switch was made to a test mode that better simulates real driving conditions. And for new vehicles registered since 2022, the Commission collects data on real-world consumption via devices in each individual vehicle.
In 2021, transport-related CO2 emissions accounted for 23%of the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions. This makes transport the second largest source of greenhouse gases in the EU after energy production. Transport is also the only sector of the economy in which emissions have not fallen since 1990.
New measurement methodology after German ‘diesel scandal’
In its report, the Court of Auditors states that before 2020, “the intended benefits of the regulation were largely invalid”. The reason for this was the large discrepancy between the measurements in the laboratory and the real emissions on the road. Binding fleet limit values were introduced in 2010, but emissions fell byless than seven percent in the period before 2020. The values measured in the laboratory had fallen by 16 percent in the same period – from an average of 145.7 grams per kilometer driven in 2009 to 122.3 grams in 2019. The average difference between the laboratory result and the result on the road had risen to 38 percent by 2018.
The 2015 diesel scandal provided the impetus to switch from the NEDC laboratory test cycle to the globally harmonized WLTP test procedure for passenger cars and light commercial vehicles. In addition, data is now being collected in real driving conditions. A comparison of the data from 2021 on real consumption and the laboratory results still showed high discrepancies of:
18.1 percent for diesel vehicles
23.7 percent for gasoline engines
250 percent for plug-in hybrids
The high deviation for plug-in hybrids can be explained as follows: The Commission assumes that plug-in hybrids cover a high proportion of kilometers in electric mode. In reality, plug-in hybrids drive longer distances in combustion mode. In addition, they are often company cars. This means that the employer pays for the fuel and the driver has no incentive to drive battery-electric.
In its special report, the Court only focused on the actual CO2 emissions of new vehicles. The energy required to produce the batteries for electric cars and the proportion of fossil fuels in the electricity mix are not included.
Ten percent heavier, 25 percent more horsepower
The data on CO2 emissions from combustion vehicles in real drivingconditions show that consumption has hardly decreased over the years, if at all. For diesel vehicles, emissions from new vehicles remained almost constant during the period under review. In the case of petrol vehicles, there was only a 4.6 percent decrease. Engines have become more efficient thanks to better technology and the introduction of hybrid powertrains. However, the higher weight and greater engine power have canceled out the technological progress. Between 2011 and 2022, the weight of new cars increasedby an average of ten percent and engine power by 25 percent.
Events
Jan. 29-Feb. 2, 2024; online ERA, SeminarFundamentals of EU State Aid Law: Substantive and Procedural Aspects The European Academy of Law (ERA) provides legal practitioners with a thorough overview of EU State aid law.INFO & REGISTRATION
Jan. 31-March 25, 2024; online FSR, SeminarEU Gas Network Codes The Florence School of Regulation (FSR) provides information on the EU Gas Network Codes.REGISTRATION BY JAN. 28
Feb. 14-March 20, 2024; online EUI, SeminarRegulating Digital Networks and Infrastructures The Centre for a Digital Society (EUI) addresses critical aspects such as regulatory challenges in fixed and mobile networks, cloud computing, and cybersecurity, as well as the main geopolitical issues in infrastructure development.REGISTRATION BY JAN. 28
News
Study expects shift to the right in European elections
Far-right parties could be the big winners of the European elections in June. According to a study commissioned by the European Council on Foreign Affairs (ECFR), the far-right Identity and Democracy (ID) group can expect an increase of 40 seats to 98 in the new European Parliament. The national conservative group European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) could therefore increase by 18 to 85 seats. If the Hungarian governing party Fidesz joins the ECR, it would even have 99 seats.
The ECFR study comes to similar conclusions as other experts. According to the study, the three large pro-European groups in the current European Parliament would lose a significant number of votes. However, the EPP, Social Democrats and Liberals would still have a majority of 54% of seats in the new parliament and could therefore continue the so-called “Von der Leyen Coalition”.
Theoretically, the EPP, ECR and ID could also form a right-wing alliance, but cooperation between the Christian Democrats and the anti-European ID group is fortunately difficult to imagine. According to the study, the left-wing part of the parliament consisting of the S&D, Greens and Left would have 33% of the seats, slightly less than today. tho
EU Environment Committee votes in favor of deregulation of new breeding techniques
On Wednesday, MEPs on the EU Environment Committee (ENVI) voted 47 to 31 in favor of liberalizing the European legal framework for new breeding techniques. The vote in the parliamentary plenary is scheduled to take place between Feb. 5-8. In contrast to the original Commission proposal, the committee includes a clause stating that plants and plant material obtained using new genetic engineering techniques and their genetic material cannot be patented. With the additional clause, rapporteur Jessica Polfjärd (EPP) addressed critics who feared that the reform could lead to more patents and less diversity in the seed market.
In other key points, the Environment Committee, which is the lead committee on the dossier, remains close to the Commission proposal. For genetically modified plants that could also have been created through conventional breeding (category 1), the latter provides for more laxrequirements, for example with regard to labeling obligations. Accordingly, genetically modified seeds of category 1 should remain subject to mandatory labeling, but processed products from this along the supply chain should not. The ban on new genetic engineering in organic farming will also be retained. Additional measures to enable guaranteed GMO-free production, as called for by the Greens and organic associations, among others, were not adopted by the committee.
Greens disappointed, success for EPP
The adoption of the text is a success for EPP politician Polfjärd, who welcomes the vote as a step towards “more food security in a sustainable way”. CDU MEPs Norbert Lins and Peter Liese also welcomed the vote. With the additional clause on patent law, the Conservatives had “taken an important step towards meeting the critics”, said Lins. The Greens, who have repeatedly and vociferously opposed the proposal,are not convinced. The result of the vote is “a medium-sized disaster for environmental and consumer protection”, criticizes Martin Häusling, the Greens’ chief negotiator. The MEP believes that consumers’ freedom of choice and organic farming are at risk.
Meanwhile, the positive vote in the parliamentary committee is also likely to increase the pressure on the Belgian EU Council Presidency to reach a compromise among the member states. After an attempt to reach an agreement among the EU agriculture ministers failed in December, the Belgians are currently looking for compromise options at the working level. According to reports, the talks are proving difficult. To adopt the proposal before the EU elections, negotiations between the Council and Parliament must be concluded by Feb. 9. An extension until March is possible. In this case, a timely agreement would theoretically still be possible, but time would be very short. jd
EU-Gentechnikrecht
Brussels aims to better shield European research from China
Increased support for research and development related to dual-use technology. The Brussels authority has released a white paper for public consultation among EU member states, the European Parliament, stakeholders and civil society. This aims to contribute to the development of the next EU framework program for research and innovation, the successor to the Horizon program.
Enhanced research security: The EU Commission aims to centralize part of the risk management at the European level, establishing a European Competence Center for Research Security. This center will be linked to a Commission platform to combat foreign interference in the research and innovation sector. Such a center is “a crucial element in Europe’s efforts to prevent the unwanted transfer of critical technology and counter hybrid threats,” explained the EU Commission.
More support in member states: The EU Commission recommends that member states create a support structure “to assist research and innovators in managing risks related to international cooperation in research and innovation”. “Red Flag” projects should receive better risk assessments.
The EU economic security package includes initiatives in other areas: from plans to tighten the regulation on foreign direct investment to more effective controls to prevent the transfer of sensitive tech know-how, to better coordination of technology export controls.
Critical reactions in business and science
The Brussels authority’s strategy received mixed reactions on Wednesday: The European Research Council emphasized that the EU must increase its budget for research and development to remain competitive. The business sector also viewed the proposals critically. Economic security in the EU should include more than the frequently cited toolkit, emphasized Wolfgang Niedermark, a member of the executive board of the Federation of German Industries. “So far, the Commission has almost exclusively delivered on the protective measures of its three-pillar strategy. That’s not enough.”
The EU’s roadmap is now tied to the outcome of the mega-election year 2024, explained Tobias Gehrke from the think tank European Council on Foreign Relations. Ursula von der Leyen’s strategy focuses on three things, according to Gehrke: a transatlantic orientation, monitoring China and navigating the “labyrinth of critical technologies”. ari
China
EU
Research
Technology
Culture Committee rubber-stamps trilogue compromise for media freedom law
The European Parliament’s Culture and Media Committee (CULT) adopted the trilogue result on the European Media Freedom Act without a lengthy debate on Wednesday with 24 votes in favor and 6 against. “Even though I would have liked us to have had more insight from the member states on one point or another, we were able to reflect the majority of the points that were important to us in the dossier and were also able to prevail against the Council”, said rapporteur and CULT Chair Sabine Verheyen (CDU). In particular, it had been possible to push through many parliamentary positions on the protection of journalists.
The alternative would have been to no longer have a Media Freedom Act because the Council would then have stopped negotiating, says Verheyen. The text could also be revised in the future – and the interaction with the Audiovisual Media Services Directive and other relevant EU legislation in particularwould have to be closely monitored in the future.
On Jan. 19, the member state representatives in COREPER I approved the result after some discussion. This paves the way for the final adoption of the EMFA by April 2024. fst
Medienfreiheit
AI: Better access to high-performance computers for start-ups and SMEs
If you want to develop artificial intelligence, you need a huge amount of data, enormous computing power, and the knowledge of how to use these resources efficiently to train your models. Start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises cannot usually afford these ingredients. However,as AI hopes in Europe are largely pinned on start-ups and SMEs, the EU wants to support them in the “development of trustworthy artificial intelligence”. It has put together a package for this purpose.
These include the establishment of AI factories, easier access to high-performance computers, and the creation of an AI office in the EU Commission. Astonishingly, the Commission wants to set up the AI office provided for in the AI Act before the law has even been adopted.
Access to supercomputers
“You need computing power to develop AI. A lot of it”, said Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President of the Commission, commenting on the package of measures. This is why the Commission wants to give SMEs and start-ups privileged access to the network of European supercomputers.
To this end, the Commission will amend the regulation of European high-performance computers (EuroHPC Regulation). It wants to establish AI Factories as a new pillar for the activities of the EU Supercomputer Joint Undertaking. As these high-performance computers are financed with EU funds, their use is free of charge. However, there are more requests for use than there is capacity, which is why start-ups and SMEs have not been given enough of a chance so far. In addition, the high-performance computers must first be optimized for the use of AI.
Commission wants to fund and promote talent
The Commission has also announced further support. For example, it will dedicate financial resources to the development of generative AI as part of Horizon and Digital Europe. The package will trigger additional public and private investment totaling around €4 billion by 2027, the Commission announced.
This will be accompanied by initiatives to strengthen the generative AI talent pool in the EU through education, training, qualification, and retraining measures. The faster development of common European data spaces should also make more data available to the AI ecosystem for training the models.
In addition, the EU Commission, together with several member states, is setting up two European Digital Infrastructure Consortia (EDICs): The Alliance for Language Technologies (ALT-EDIC) and the CitiVERSE EDIC. The latter is intended to develop local digital twins. These help municipalities to plan and optimize processes – from traffic management to waste management.
Everything should come together in the AI Office
The AI Office within the EU Commission is to develop and coordinate AI policy at the European level. It is also intended to implement and monitor the future AI Act. It was the Parliament that included such an AI Office in its proposal for the AI Act in order to harmonize AI regulation in the EU. However, MEPs envisaged it as an independent organization – and not as an office of the Commission.
Although the AI Act has not yet been adopted following the political trilogue agreement in December, the Commission has announced that it will enter into force on Jan. 1: The decision to establish the AI Office will come into forceon Jan. 24. The AI Office will begin its work in the following months. The Commission envisions it as a central coordination point for AI policy at the EU level. It will work with other Commission services, EU institutions, member states and the AI ecosystem – including at the international level. vis
Commission wants to be the first to comply with the AI Act
The Commission wants to lead by example and use trustworthy AI in its own administration. It wants to use AI to support its staff, reduce the administrative burden and improve the quality and impact of its work. In doing so, it is anticipating the adoption of the corresponding AI law. In order to bridge the gap until the AI Act comes into force, Commissioner Thierry Breton announced an AI Pact last summer: AI developers are invited to meet the requirements of the AI Act now.
In order to fully exploit the advantages and opportunities of AI technology, the Commission will immediately subject itself to the planned regulations. To this end, the EU Commission published its strategic vision on Wednesday. It sets out how it intends to promote the development and use of lawful, secure and trustworthy artificial intelligence systems internally.
Commission sets up internal AI governance
The Commission has announced the following measures:
Developinternal operational guidelines with clear and pragmatic instructions;
Evaluate and classify AI systems that the Commission already uses or will use in the future;
Avoid the use of AI systems that are incompatible with European values or that pose a threat to security, safety, health and/or fundamental human rights;
Establishappropriate organizational and governance structures to enable the Commission to meet its obligations concerning AI.
The Commission is also setting up special internal AI governance. This will assess AI aspects of new IT investments, support and monitor compliance with the Commission’s operational guidelines and establish a broad-based network. This will be based on the existing AI@EC network. The Commission also intends to create and maintain a register of the AI systems it uses.
AI to help with legislation in the future
Operational measures also include creating a smoothly functioning data ecosystem as part of the Commission’s internal data strategy (DataStrategy@EC). To this end, the Commission wants to link its own databases with each other in order to support the Commission’s processes.
In fact, the Commission already uses a number of AI systems. These include, for example, AI-supported language services and semantic text analysis. Systems are currently being tested to analyze feedback from the public, process competition cases, detect fraud or make funding applications and tenders more user-friendly. In the future, the Commission also wants to be supported by AI in legislative procedures. vis
Commission presents draft on European works councils
The directive on European Works Councils (EWCs) is to be revised, according to the Commission. Labor Commissioner Nicolas Schmitt and Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis presented a corresponding proposal on Wednesday. Among other things, existing gaps in the establishment of EWCs are to be closed. According to the Commission, there are currently more than 300 cross-border companies with more than five million employees in which no European works council is required under the current regulations. This is set to change in the future.
In addition, the Commission wants to ensure that:
EWC members should be better involved before transnational decisions are made and should receive responses to their opinions in the process before the decision is made;
In the future, the management must give reasons if it cannot pass on information to the EWC if this information is confidential;
European works councils should have easier access to courts in the member states in the future;
Member states are to enforce the directive more thoroughly.
European Works Councils can currently be set up in cross-border companies with more than 1,000 employees if they operate in at least two member states of the EU or the European Economic Area. Accordingly, EWC members are consulted when cross-border decisions, such as restructuring, are pending.
However, the Commission itself came to the conclusion in an evaluation of the directive that the involvement of EWCs has so far been ineffective in some cases and that there is a lack of effective and dissuasive sanctions in some member states. Non-legislative measures have been introduced in response. However, according to the Commission’s proposal, these have not led to the hoped-for improvements in enforcement. Last year, the European Parliament had already called on the Commission to take action in this area. lei
Arbeitnehmerrechte
Agora: Financing climate protection permanently through EU debt
Climate protection in Europe should continue to be financed by joint EU debt after 2026, according to a proposal by the Agora think tanks. “A new climate fund should close the gap after the RRF recovery fund expires“, said Andreas Graf from Agora Energiewende at an event in Brussels on Wednesday. The revenue should come from CO2 certificates and EU debt, among other things.
“In the future, EU funding can also play a stabilizing role as governments face gradually decreasing revenues from fossil fuel taxation as the EU moves towards climate neutrality”, it continued. EU member states can continue to finance certain investments from the Corona Recovery Fund until the end of 2026. Agora had previously pointed out the importance of the new EU budget, which will apply from 2028, for setting the 2040 climate target. ber
EU-Klimapolitik
Heads
Valérie Hayer – Macron confidante moves to head Renew Group
Valérie Hayer from France is the only candidate for the Renew Group chairmanship.
“We have saved our Camemberts“, Valérie Hayer triumphed on X in November last year. The French MEP was referring to the retention of wooden boxes for Camemberts, which had become a contentious issue during the negotiations on the packaging regulation.
It is not surprising that the 37-year-old is interested in Camembert packets: Hayer is the daughter of farmers and 80 percent of her home department of Mayenne consists of agricultural land. The department is located near the castles of the Loire. So Hayer knows her way around agriculture – an advantage at a time when farmers’ protests are spreading across the European Union, according to a liberal parliamentary source.
Dutchman loses out due to Wilders’s cooperation
This Thursday, Hayer is likely to become the new leader of the Liberal Group in the European Parliament. The 101 MEPs will then elect the successor to the current chair, Stéphane Séjourné, and Hayer is the only remaining candidate. Séjourné had previously been appointed as the new Foreign Minister in Gabriel Attal’s government.
Malik Azmani from the Netherlands, the first deputy parliamentary group leader of the Liberals, had temporarily taken over the post. Azmani had also signaled his interest in the post but ultimately decided not to run after extensive exploratory talks. Supporters of his rival Hayer cited in particular the negotiations between his VVD party and the far-right Geert Wilders on the formation of a government in the Netherlands.
Influential budget politician
Hayer’s expertise in agriculture is not her only trump card: “She has gained influence among French MEPs from all parties since the beginning of her term in office”, says one observer. In Parliament, Hayer sits on the Budget Committee and was responsible in particular for the negotiations on the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2021-2027 and the European recovery plan following the Covid crisis. She was also appointed permanent co-rapporteur for the EU’s own resources. “The search for compromise is what sets her apart“, says a source.
The ability to compromise is a necessary quality in a political group like Renew, which often has a reputation for being divided. There is a particular rift between the French members of Renaissance and the German members of the FDP. “Within Renew, the French accuse the Germans of voting like the German conservatives“, says a French source. “And the Germans in Renew accuse the French of serving the interests of Emmanuel Macron”, replies a German voice.
Long-time Macron supporter
The French delegation is the largest in the group (23 out of 101 elected representatives) and the majority of them supported Hayer’s candidacy. Especially as it has supported the French President since the beginning of his candidacy for the Elysée Palace in 2017 and is therefore one of Emmanuel Macron’s loyal supporters, which is another important plus point for them, at least from a French perspective. Claire Stam
It was only a matter of time before he left. Now the time has come. Diederik Samsom is leaving the Commission. As head of Frans Timmermans‘ cabinet, the Dutchman played a significant role in earning Timmermans the questionable nickname “climate Taliban” in Brussels. Samsom was an ideologue and driver in the background. He sharpened the Green Deal proposals. He was not a classic Commission official. Before he came to Brussels, he wasa Greenpeace activist and also once a top politician, namely head of the socialist Partij van de Arbeid in the Netherlands.
Be it the 2035 ban on combustion engines for new vehicles, the Nature Restoration Act or the Pesticides Ordinance: Samsom has left his mark on all legislative proposals that hurt car manufacturers and farmers. He was a red rag for leading EPP environmental politicians, who had been calling for his replacement for months. When Timmermans, Vice-President for the Green Deal, unexpectedly left for the Netherlands in the summer and wanted to become head of government there, a climate change began in the Commission concerning environmental legislation. Proposals for the Green Deal that were presented after Timmermans’ departure were less radical.
Wopke Hoekstra, the Christian Democrat who succeeded Timmermans, initially held on to Samsom. He presumably needed the shrewd negotiator at the climate conference. Now Samsom and Hoekstra are parting ways. As de Volkskrant writes, Samsom will remain in Brussels. He will first write the climate program for the next Green Deal 2.0 mandate. If that’s true, you’ll have to dress warmly.
What will become of the European Peace Facility (EPF), which is used to finance European arms deliveries to Ukraine? A complicated dispute has broken out between the EU states over this question, in which Germany is also involved. A compromise proposal from the European External Action Service (EEAS) has so far failed to resolve the conflict. No agreement is expected at the special EU summit on Feb. 1, according to Brussels, but there is positive momentum.
The future of the EPF was actually supposed to be decided at the last summit in December. It was agreed that the fund, which was originally designed for peace missions and financed from national contributions outside the EU budget, would be replaced and a new “Ukraine Assistance Fund” (UAF) created. This would then be used to finance arms deliveries – without the problems that have recently plagued the EPF.
Germany: Fully recognize bilateral aid
But nothing came of it. Germany demanded that bilateral aid to Ukraine be fully credited. It “could not agree to any UAF” that would not treat bilateral aid “100 percent as an equivalent alternative to financial contributions to the EPF”, according to a wire report obtained by Table.Media. Germany has already pledged €8 billion worth of arms aid to Ukraine for the current year.
The German government also believes that governance needs to be changed. This should prevent individual countries such as Hungary from delaying the disbursement of EPF funds through a veto. It is important that military aid reaches Ukraine without delay, explained German EU Ambassador Michael Clauß. All countries would have to make higher contributions in 2024 – this was the real sticking point in the negotiations.
Discussions instead of agreement
So far, however, the debate continues to revolve around €5 billion, which had already been earmarked for the rearmament of Ukraine at the end of 2023. “I hope we will reach an agreement on increasing the European Peace Facility by five billion euros so that we can set up an aid fund for Ukraine”, said EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell in Brussels on Monday.
According to diplomats, no agreement was reached at a meeting of the Permanent Representatives and the Political and Security Committee (PSC) in Brussels on Wednesday. A non-paper from the EEAS was described by all sides as a good basis for discussion. They were moving in the right direction, it was said, including from Berlin.
When comparing contributions to the new Ukraine Fund, bilateral aid should also be taken into account in the future, as the German government is demanding. However, the focus of the joint financing should be on joint armaments projects – a wish that Paris has had for years. “Buy European” would be the name of the game in the future when it comes to aid for Ukraine. In addition, the rules for the reimbursement of national contributions are to be tightened.
Cash-strapped coffers cause problems
This is still too little for Berlin, but it is already too much for many other EU countries. Smaller countries in particular continue to rely on the usual reimbursement from the EPF. There are also concerns about joint arms production – it would be too slow and too expensive. However, the main problem is that budgets are tight everywhere. Germany was already struggling to increase its arms aid. Other countries are simply unable to do so.
But the pressure is increasing, as the latest statements from Berlin show. “In the end, it cannot be the case that Germany does more financially so that others can continue to do less”, said Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP). “If 50 percent of all European aid comes from Germany, then there is a danger of overstretching our fiscal possibilities.”
Scholz and Lindner pile on the pressure
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) expressed a similar view. “The contributions that the European states have so far earmarked for 2024 are not yet large enough”, Scholz told the German newspaper Die Zeit. “Europe must discuss what each country can contribute so that we can significantly increase our support.” He is likely to address the contentious issue at the special EU summit on Feb. 1.
Budget expert and spokesperson for the German Greens in the European Parliament, Rasmus Andresen, urges urgency: “We cannot afford to spend weeks and months arguing about the type and amount of European support for Ukraine“, he told Table.Media. “Especially now, when support from the USA is also declining and the worst is to be feared with a possible second Trump term in office, the European Union must be a reliable partner.”
Armor
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European Court of Auditors gives scathing report on CO2 fleet regulation
EU fleet legislation has not led to the desired reduction in CO2 emissions from newly registered vehicles. Only after 2020, eleven years after the first CO2 fleet limit regulation came into force, which prescribes specific upper limits for CO2 emissions for manufacturers, did CO2 emissions from passenger cars begin to fall significantly. The decline was also only due to the higher market share of battery electric vehicles. CO2 emissions from new vehicles with combustion engines did not decrease significantly. The CO2 fleet legislation is the EU’s key instrument for reducing CO2 emissions from new vehicles.
This is the damning verdict of the European Court of Auditors in its special report “Reducing CO2 emissions from passenger cars”. The report, for which Member Pietro Russo is responsible, is based on research in three Member States, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands.
Wrong incentives were set
The report also makes it clear that the methodology of CO2 measurement has long provided manufacturers with the wrong incentives. In the period from 2009 to 2020, for example, the average emissions generated during practical driving did not fall. This was mainly due to the fact that “manufacturers focused on reducing emissions measured in the laboratory rather than on reducing actual emissions”. It was not until 2017 that a switch was made to a test mode that better simulates real driving conditions. And for new vehicles registered since 2022, the Commission collects data on real-world consumption via devices in each individual vehicle.
In 2021, transport-related CO2 emissions accounted for 23%of the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions. This makes transport the second largest source of greenhouse gases in the EU after energy production. Transport is also the only sector of the economy in which emissions have not fallen since 1990.
New measurement methodology after German ‘diesel scandal’
In its report, the Court of Auditors states that before 2020, “the intended benefits of the regulation were largely invalid”. The reason for this was the large discrepancy between the measurements in the laboratory and the real emissions on the road. Binding fleet limit values were introduced in 2010, but emissions fell byless than seven percent in the period before 2020. The values measured in the laboratory had fallen by 16 percent in the same period – from an average of 145.7 grams per kilometer driven in 2009 to 122.3 grams in 2019. The average difference between the laboratory result and the result on the road had risen to 38 percent by 2018.
The 2015 diesel scandal provided the impetus to switch from the NEDC laboratory test cycle to the globally harmonized WLTP test procedure for passenger cars and light commercial vehicles. In addition, data is now being collected in real driving conditions. A comparison of the data from 2021 on real consumption and the laboratory results still showed high discrepancies of:
18.1 percent for diesel vehicles
23.7 percent for gasoline engines
250 percent for plug-in hybrids
The high deviation for plug-in hybrids can be explained as follows: The Commission assumes that plug-in hybrids cover a high proportion of kilometers in electric mode. In reality, plug-in hybrids drive longer distances in combustion mode. In addition, they are often company cars. This means that the employer pays for the fuel and the driver has no incentive to drive battery-electric.
In its special report, the Court only focused on the actual CO2 emissions of new vehicles. The energy required to produce the batteries for electric cars and the proportion of fossil fuels in the electricity mix are not included.
Ten percent heavier, 25 percent more horsepower
The data on CO2 emissions from combustion vehicles in real drivingconditions show that consumption has hardly decreased over the years, if at all. For diesel vehicles, emissions from new vehicles remained almost constant during the period under review. In the case of petrol vehicles, there was only a 4.6 percent decrease. Engines have become more efficient thanks to better technology and the introduction of hybrid powertrains. However, the higher weight and greater engine power have canceled out the technological progress. Between 2011 and 2022, the weight of new cars increasedby an average of ten percent and engine power by 25 percent.
Events
Jan. 29-Feb. 2, 2024; online ERA, SeminarFundamentals of EU State Aid Law: Substantive and Procedural Aspects The European Academy of Law (ERA) provides legal practitioners with a thorough overview of EU State aid law.INFO & REGISTRATION
Jan. 31-March 25, 2024; online FSR, SeminarEU Gas Network Codes The Florence School of Regulation (FSR) provides information on the EU Gas Network Codes.REGISTRATION BY JAN. 28
Feb. 14-March 20, 2024; online EUI, SeminarRegulating Digital Networks and Infrastructures The Centre for a Digital Society (EUI) addresses critical aspects such as regulatory challenges in fixed and mobile networks, cloud computing, and cybersecurity, as well as the main geopolitical issues in infrastructure development.REGISTRATION BY JAN. 28
News
Study expects shift to the right in European elections
Far-right parties could be the big winners of the European elections in June. According to a study commissioned by the European Council on Foreign Affairs (ECFR), the far-right Identity and Democracy (ID) group can expect an increase of 40 seats to 98 in the new European Parliament. The national conservative group European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) could therefore increase by 18 to 85 seats. If the Hungarian governing party Fidesz joins the ECR, it would even have 99 seats.
The ECFR study comes to similar conclusions as other experts. According to the study, the three large pro-European groups in the current European Parliament would lose a significant number of votes. However, the EPP, Social Democrats and Liberals would still have a majority of 54% of seats in the new parliament and could therefore continue the so-called “Von der Leyen Coalition”.
Theoretically, the EPP, ECR and ID could also form a right-wing alliance, but cooperation between the Christian Democrats and the anti-European ID group is fortunately difficult to imagine. According to the study, the left-wing part of the parliament consisting of the S&D, Greens and Left would have 33% of the seats, slightly less than today. tho
EU Environment Committee votes in favor of deregulation of new breeding techniques
On Wednesday, MEPs on the EU Environment Committee (ENVI) voted 47 to 31 in favor of liberalizing the European legal framework for new breeding techniques. The vote in the parliamentary plenary is scheduled to take place between Feb. 5-8. In contrast to the original Commission proposal, the committee includes a clause stating that plants and plant material obtained using new genetic engineering techniques and their genetic material cannot be patented. With the additional clause, rapporteur Jessica Polfjärd (EPP) addressed critics who feared that the reform could lead to more patents and less diversity in the seed market.
In other key points, the Environment Committee, which is the lead committee on the dossier, remains close to the Commission proposal. For genetically modified plants that could also have been created through conventional breeding (category 1), the latter provides for more laxrequirements, for example with regard to labeling obligations. Accordingly, genetically modified seeds of category 1 should remain subject to mandatory labeling, but processed products from this along the supply chain should not. The ban on new genetic engineering in organic farming will also be retained. Additional measures to enable guaranteed GMO-free production, as called for by the Greens and organic associations, among others, were not adopted by the committee.
Greens disappointed, success for EPP
The adoption of the text is a success for EPP politician Polfjärd, who welcomes the vote as a step towards “more food security in a sustainable way”. CDU MEPs Norbert Lins and Peter Liese also welcomed the vote. With the additional clause on patent law, the Conservatives had “taken an important step towards meeting the critics”, said Lins. The Greens, who have repeatedly and vociferously opposed the proposal,are not convinced. The result of the vote is “a medium-sized disaster for environmental and consumer protection”, criticizes Martin Häusling, the Greens’ chief negotiator. The MEP believes that consumers’ freedom of choice and organic farming are at risk.
Meanwhile, the positive vote in the parliamentary committee is also likely to increase the pressure on the Belgian EU Council Presidency to reach a compromise among the member states. After an attempt to reach an agreement among the EU agriculture ministers failed in December, the Belgians are currently looking for compromise options at the working level. According to reports, the talks are proving difficult. To adopt the proposal before the EU elections, negotiations between the Council and Parliament must be concluded by Feb. 9. An extension until March is possible. In this case, a timely agreement would theoretically still be possible, but time would be very short. jd
EU-Gentechnikrecht
Brussels aims to better shield European research from China
Increased support for research and development related to dual-use technology. The Brussels authority has released a white paper for public consultation among EU member states, the European Parliament, stakeholders and civil society. This aims to contribute to the development of the next EU framework program for research and innovation, the successor to the Horizon program.
Enhanced research security: The EU Commission aims to centralize part of the risk management at the European level, establishing a European Competence Center for Research Security. This center will be linked to a Commission platform to combat foreign interference in the research and innovation sector. Such a center is “a crucial element in Europe’s efforts to prevent the unwanted transfer of critical technology and counter hybrid threats,” explained the EU Commission.
More support in member states: The EU Commission recommends that member states create a support structure “to assist research and innovators in managing risks related to international cooperation in research and innovation”. “Red Flag” projects should receive better risk assessments.
The EU economic security package includes initiatives in other areas: from plans to tighten the regulation on foreign direct investment to more effective controls to prevent the transfer of sensitive tech know-how, to better coordination of technology export controls.
Critical reactions in business and science
The Brussels authority’s strategy received mixed reactions on Wednesday: The European Research Council emphasized that the EU must increase its budget for research and development to remain competitive. The business sector also viewed the proposals critically. Economic security in the EU should include more than the frequently cited toolkit, emphasized Wolfgang Niedermark, a member of the executive board of the Federation of German Industries. “So far, the Commission has almost exclusively delivered on the protective measures of its three-pillar strategy. That’s not enough.”
The EU’s roadmap is now tied to the outcome of the mega-election year 2024, explained Tobias Gehrke from the think tank European Council on Foreign Relations. Ursula von der Leyen’s strategy focuses on three things, according to Gehrke: a transatlantic orientation, monitoring China and navigating the “labyrinth of critical technologies”. ari
China
EU
Research
Technology
Culture Committee rubber-stamps trilogue compromise for media freedom law
The European Parliament’s Culture and Media Committee (CULT) adopted the trilogue result on the European Media Freedom Act without a lengthy debate on Wednesday with 24 votes in favor and 6 against. “Even though I would have liked us to have had more insight from the member states on one point or another, we were able to reflect the majority of the points that were important to us in the dossier and were also able to prevail against the Council”, said rapporteur and CULT Chair Sabine Verheyen (CDU). In particular, it had been possible to push through many parliamentary positions on the protection of journalists.
The alternative would have been to no longer have a Media Freedom Act because the Council would then have stopped negotiating, says Verheyen. The text could also be revised in the future – and the interaction with the Audiovisual Media Services Directive and other relevant EU legislation in particularwould have to be closely monitored in the future.
On Jan. 19, the member state representatives in COREPER I approved the result after some discussion. This paves the way for the final adoption of the EMFA by April 2024. fst
Medienfreiheit
AI: Better access to high-performance computers for start-ups and SMEs
If you want to develop artificial intelligence, you need a huge amount of data, enormous computing power, and the knowledge of how to use these resources efficiently to train your models. Start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises cannot usually afford these ingredients. However,as AI hopes in Europe are largely pinned on start-ups and SMEs, the EU wants to support them in the “development of trustworthy artificial intelligence”. It has put together a package for this purpose.
These include the establishment of AI factories, easier access to high-performance computers, and the creation of an AI office in the EU Commission. Astonishingly, the Commission wants to set up the AI office provided for in the AI Act before the law has even been adopted.
Access to supercomputers
“You need computing power to develop AI. A lot of it”, said Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President of the Commission, commenting on the package of measures. This is why the Commission wants to give SMEs and start-ups privileged access to the network of European supercomputers.
To this end, the Commission will amend the regulation of European high-performance computers (EuroHPC Regulation). It wants to establish AI Factories as a new pillar for the activities of the EU Supercomputer Joint Undertaking. As these high-performance computers are financed with EU funds, their use is free of charge. However, there are more requests for use than there is capacity, which is why start-ups and SMEs have not been given enough of a chance so far. In addition, the high-performance computers must first be optimized for the use of AI.
Commission wants to fund and promote talent
The Commission has also announced further support. For example, it will dedicate financial resources to the development of generative AI as part of Horizon and Digital Europe. The package will trigger additional public and private investment totaling around €4 billion by 2027, the Commission announced.
This will be accompanied by initiatives to strengthen the generative AI talent pool in the EU through education, training, qualification, and retraining measures. The faster development of common European data spaces should also make more data available to the AI ecosystem for training the models.
In addition, the EU Commission, together with several member states, is setting up two European Digital Infrastructure Consortia (EDICs): The Alliance for Language Technologies (ALT-EDIC) and the CitiVERSE EDIC. The latter is intended to develop local digital twins. These help municipalities to plan and optimize processes – from traffic management to waste management.
Everything should come together in the AI Office
The AI Office within the EU Commission is to develop and coordinate AI policy at the European level. It is also intended to implement and monitor the future AI Act. It was the Parliament that included such an AI Office in its proposal for the AI Act in order to harmonize AI regulation in the EU. However, MEPs envisaged it as an independent organization – and not as an office of the Commission.
Although the AI Act has not yet been adopted following the political trilogue agreement in December, the Commission has announced that it will enter into force on Jan. 1: The decision to establish the AI Office will come into forceon Jan. 24. The AI Office will begin its work in the following months. The Commission envisions it as a central coordination point for AI policy at the EU level. It will work with other Commission services, EU institutions, member states and the AI ecosystem – including at the international level. vis
Commission wants to be the first to comply with the AI Act
The Commission wants to lead by example and use trustworthy AI in its own administration. It wants to use AI to support its staff, reduce the administrative burden and improve the quality and impact of its work. In doing so, it is anticipating the adoption of the corresponding AI law. In order to bridge the gap until the AI Act comes into force, Commissioner Thierry Breton announced an AI Pact last summer: AI developers are invited to meet the requirements of the AI Act now.
In order to fully exploit the advantages and opportunities of AI technology, the Commission will immediately subject itself to the planned regulations. To this end, the EU Commission published its strategic vision on Wednesday. It sets out how it intends to promote the development and use of lawful, secure and trustworthy artificial intelligence systems internally.
Commission sets up internal AI governance
The Commission has announced the following measures:
Developinternal operational guidelines with clear and pragmatic instructions;
Evaluate and classify AI systems that the Commission already uses or will use in the future;
Avoid the use of AI systems that are incompatible with European values or that pose a threat to security, safety, health and/or fundamental human rights;
Establishappropriate organizational and governance structures to enable the Commission to meet its obligations concerning AI.
The Commission is also setting up special internal AI governance. This will assess AI aspects of new IT investments, support and monitor compliance with the Commission’s operational guidelines and establish a broad-based network. This will be based on the existing AI@EC network. The Commission also intends to create and maintain a register of the AI systems it uses.
AI to help with legislation in the future
Operational measures also include creating a smoothly functioning data ecosystem as part of the Commission’s internal data strategy (DataStrategy@EC). To this end, the Commission wants to link its own databases with each other in order to support the Commission’s processes.
In fact, the Commission already uses a number of AI systems. These include, for example, AI-supported language services and semantic text analysis. Systems are currently being tested to analyze feedback from the public, process competition cases, detect fraud or make funding applications and tenders more user-friendly. In the future, the Commission also wants to be supported by AI in legislative procedures. vis
Commission presents draft on European works councils
The directive on European Works Councils (EWCs) is to be revised, according to the Commission. Labor Commissioner Nicolas Schmitt and Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis presented a corresponding proposal on Wednesday. Among other things, existing gaps in the establishment of EWCs are to be closed. According to the Commission, there are currently more than 300 cross-border companies with more than five million employees in which no European works council is required under the current regulations. This is set to change in the future.
In addition, the Commission wants to ensure that:
EWC members should be better involved before transnational decisions are made and should receive responses to their opinions in the process before the decision is made;
In the future, the management must give reasons if it cannot pass on information to the EWC if this information is confidential;
European works councils should have easier access to courts in the member states in the future;
Member states are to enforce the directive more thoroughly.
European Works Councils can currently be set up in cross-border companies with more than 1,000 employees if they operate in at least two member states of the EU or the European Economic Area. Accordingly, EWC members are consulted when cross-border decisions, such as restructuring, are pending.
However, the Commission itself came to the conclusion in an evaluation of the directive that the involvement of EWCs has so far been ineffective in some cases and that there is a lack of effective and dissuasive sanctions in some member states. Non-legislative measures have been introduced in response. However, according to the Commission’s proposal, these have not led to the hoped-for improvements in enforcement. Last year, the European Parliament had already called on the Commission to take action in this area. lei
Arbeitnehmerrechte
Agora: Financing climate protection permanently through EU debt
Climate protection in Europe should continue to be financed by joint EU debt after 2026, according to a proposal by the Agora think tanks. “A new climate fund should close the gap after the RRF recovery fund expires“, said Andreas Graf from Agora Energiewende at an event in Brussels on Wednesday. The revenue should come from CO2 certificates and EU debt, among other things.
“In the future, EU funding can also play a stabilizing role as governments face gradually decreasing revenues from fossil fuel taxation as the EU moves towards climate neutrality”, it continued. EU member states can continue to finance certain investments from the Corona Recovery Fund until the end of 2026. Agora had previously pointed out the importance of the new EU budget, which will apply from 2028, for setting the 2040 climate target. ber
EU-Klimapolitik
Heads
Valérie Hayer – Macron confidante moves to head Renew Group
Valérie Hayer from France is the only candidate for the Renew Group chairmanship.
“We have saved our Camemberts“, Valérie Hayer triumphed on X in November last year. The French MEP was referring to the retention of wooden boxes for Camemberts, which had become a contentious issue during the negotiations on the packaging regulation.
It is not surprising that the 37-year-old is interested in Camembert packets: Hayer is the daughter of farmers and 80 percent of her home department of Mayenne consists of agricultural land. The department is located near the castles of the Loire. So Hayer knows her way around agriculture – an advantage at a time when farmers’ protests are spreading across the European Union, according to a liberal parliamentary source.
Dutchman loses out due to Wilders’s cooperation
This Thursday, Hayer is likely to become the new leader of the Liberal Group in the European Parliament. The 101 MEPs will then elect the successor to the current chair, Stéphane Séjourné, and Hayer is the only remaining candidate. Séjourné had previously been appointed as the new Foreign Minister in Gabriel Attal’s government.
Malik Azmani from the Netherlands, the first deputy parliamentary group leader of the Liberals, had temporarily taken over the post. Azmani had also signaled his interest in the post but ultimately decided not to run after extensive exploratory talks. Supporters of his rival Hayer cited in particular the negotiations between his VVD party and the far-right Geert Wilders on the formation of a government in the Netherlands.
Influential budget politician
Hayer’s expertise in agriculture is not her only trump card: “She has gained influence among French MEPs from all parties since the beginning of her term in office”, says one observer. In Parliament, Hayer sits on the Budget Committee and was responsible in particular for the negotiations on the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2021-2027 and the European recovery plan following the Covid crisis. She was also appointed permanent co-rapporteur for the EU’s own resources. “The search for compromise is what sets her apart“, says a source.
The ability to compromise is a necessary quality in a political group like Renew, which often has a reputation for being divided. There is a particular rift between the French members of Renaissance and the German members of the FDP. “Within Renew, the French accuse the Germans of voting like the German conservatives“, says a French source. “And the Germans in Renew accuse the French of serving the interests of Emmanuel Macron”, replies a German voice.
Long-time Macron supporter
The French delegation is the largest in the group (23 out of 101 elected representatives) and the majority of them supported Hayer’s candidacy. Especially as it has supported the French President since the beginning of his candidacy for the Elysée Palace in 2017 and is therefore one of Emmanuel Macron’s loyal supporters, which is another important plus point for them, at least from a French perspective. Claire Stam
