Gas storage regulation + Ukraine’s • Table.Briefings

Dear reader,

It’s a major step toward energy security: yesterday, the European institutions reached a fast-track agreement on a new gas storage regulation. Manuel Berkel analyzes exactly what it will look like and what exceptions there will be to the obligation.

What happens when you press the gas pedal and the brake at the same time? It squeaks and smokes. That’s what’s happening between the EU Commission, which is stepping on the gas for Ukraine’s accession process, and France and Germany, which are pulling the breaks at the same time. My colleague Eric Bonse predicts a dispute at the EU summit in June.

From other member states, France and Germany are often perceived as having an overwhelming political weight. Estonia’s Prime Minister Kaja Kallas is probably one of the pair’s loudest critics at the moment, but voices are also being raised elsewhere that the two countries can no longer be trusted. Claire Stam again serves up morsels from Brussels in her weekly column.

Another look at the news: Former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder has lost his office and his staff in the Bundestag with immediate effect. The European Parliament even wants to impose sanctions on the 78-year-old if he does not give up his post on the supervisory board of the Russian energy company Rosneft.

Have a nice weekend

Your
Lisa-Martina Klein

States block higher gas storage obligations

After a marathon 16-hour negotiating session Monday night, things moved quickly Thursday. “We have it. Energy for our citizens and businesses is secured,” Jerzy Buzek (EPP), the Parliament’s chief negotiator, was able to announce after a short trialogue in the morning. The new, EU-wide gas storage obligations are intended to ensure supply even if gas stops flowing from Russia. The operators of the facilities are also to prove their reliability through certification – a measure primarily aimed at Gazprom.

Almost at the same time, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) emphasized cohesion in the EU during his government statement in Berlin: “At the European level, the main thing is to ensure that there are no bottlenecks in the energy supply of individual member states. That is an imperative of European solidarity.”

The Commission presented an initial target at the end of March: At least 80 percent of all storage facilities should be filled by November 1 or December 1 at the latest, and 90 percent in subsequent years. However, this could result in high costs for the 18 member states with storage facilities. If the gas industry were to hold back on filling because of market turbulence, governments would have to buy gas themselves in an emergency.

States without gas storage facilities should build up stocks anyway

The EU members should therefore agree on financial burden sharing. The alternative: countries without their own storage facilities would have to store 15 percent of their annual consumption in other countries – as a reserve for the winter and in exchange for fees. In addition to the costs, overly strict storage obligations could lead to other inconveniences. In order to build up enough reserves for the heating season, in extreme cases, shutdowns of industrial or commercial operations could already be pending during the summer. The exceptions that the member states pushed through in the trilogue should be seen against this background.

Based on Commission figures, Parliament actually wanted to achieve a minimum filling level of 90 percent already for this year, as Europe.Table learned from negotiating circles. As a result, the target of 80 percent for the current year was retained. Because of exceptions for individual states, there are even internal fears that the target will ultimately only be 75 percent. In the recitals of the regulation, countries with storage facilities are therefore encouraged to store more gas than required. The hope is that this will bring the EU average to 85 percent.

The exceptions apply, on the one hand, to states that are not yet connected by pipelines, namely Ireland, Malta and Cyprus. An even more important deviation was pushed through by a handful of states that have very large storage facilities in relation to their own gas consumption. According to reports, these are Hungary, Austria, Latvia and Slovakia.

Owners consumption as limit

According to Thursday’s agreement, storage obligations are to be limited to 35 percent of own national consumption. However, in response to a question from Europe.Table, the spokesman for the industry committee, Christian-Silviu Bușoi (EPP), dismissed fears that several important storage facilities would therefore hardly be filled. “The solidarity principle applies and the invitation to member states to use storage in other states if capacity is available.” For their part member states with large storage facilities are encouraged to support others and stockpile gas on their territory for others.

Interim targets for filling the reservoirs in individual months of the summer half-year were also retained. For this year, the Council would have preferred to delete them, even though the Commission had already not set them as high for the current year as in subsequent years. Instead, the filling paths remain in place and, according to Bușois, they are now even mandatory for the states and no longer voluntary.

However, there were two concessions to the member states: downward deviations of up to five instead of two percentage points are now permitted on the individual cut-off dates, and the paths from 2023 onwards will be redefined by the Commission at the proposal of the member states. In addition, the expensive storage obligations are to expire at the end of 2025. By then, the Union hopes to be independent of Russia in terms of gas.

Greens push for energy efficiency and conservation

For Green negotiator Marie Toussaint, it is clear how the EU should achieve this goal: “Massive energy savings and energy efficiency measures must be implemented by then.” To that end, the Greens would have enshrined in the regulation that the role of energy efficiency in energy security is recognized.

CDU MEP Markus Pieper, in turn, welcomed the fact that EU states can also deliver on their commitments through joint procurement of energy: “When member states make their gas purchases jointly, they strengthen strategic energy security while helping to reduce price volatility.”

The member states have successfully negotiated more time for the certification of storage operators. Whereas the Commission had proposed a deadline of 100 working days for large companies with suspiciously empty reservoirs, a deadline of 150 days has now been agreed.

Scholz slows down Ukraine’s EU accession

New trouble is looming in the EU’s enlargement policy, which has been controversial for years. Following France’s lead, Germany on Thursday warned that Ukraine’s planned accession to the EU was moving too quickly – and took a stand against the EU Commission, which is calling for the country to be admitted quickly. French President Emmanuel Macron was right to point out that Ukraine’s accession process was “not a matter of a few months or a few years,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said during a government statement in the Bundestag in Berlin.

There should be “no shortcuts” to the EU for Kyiv, Scholz stressed. Fairness toward other accession candidates in the Western Balkans alone demanded this. Therefore the focus should be on providing Ukraine with “quick and pragmatic support.” Macron had argued similarly shortly after his re-election in early May. Accession is a matter of years or decades, the French leader said. Therefore, he said, one must think about offering countries like Ukraine an alternative, such as a loose “European political community.”

In contrast, the EU Commission is counting on rapid and close integration that goes even beyond the normal accession procedure. Commission head Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday proposed a special reconstruction solidarity fund to initiate and finance the reforms needed for accession. Von der Leyen had already pledged her support to Ukraine during a trip to Kyiv in April. Her office is currently examining the application for membership, which President Volodymyr Selenskyj filled out in record time. In June, the Commission intends to decide whether the country will be granted candidate status.

“Second-class treatment of Ukraine”

A positive decision is expected in Brussels. The EU summit at the end of June could then officially recognize Ukraine as a candidate country. Immediately before the summit, however, EU Council President Charles Michel also wants to hold a summit with the six countries of the Western Balkans. In a speech on Wednesday, Michel had advocated the creation of a “European geopolitical community” reminiscent of Macron’s proposal, which would focus on foreign policy cooperation. This could include other countries besides the Western Balkans, Michel said, without naming names.

In addition to Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova have recently applied to join the EU. Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Turkey already have official candidate status. Talks with Turkey have been on hold for years. Albania and North Macedonia are currently considered favorites for rapid accession.

The countries of the Western Balkans have been waiting for the coveted ticket to the EU for two decades. They point out that, just like Ukraine, they had to go through a war. There should be no special treatment. But Ukraine is pressuring. “We don’t need substitutes for EU candidate status that show Ukraine’s second-class treatment and hurt Ukrainians’ feelings,” Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote on Twitter on Thursday shortly after Scholz’s speech. “Certain countries” were behaving ambiguously.

Adhere to recording procedures

The controversial nature of the enlargement policy was also evident at the Europe.Table conference in Berlin on Wednesday. British historian Timothy Garton Ash argued for Ukraine’s rapid accession. “The only appropriate response to Ukraine’s truly heroic defense of European values at present is to make Ukraine an EU candidate,” he said. The June European Council must send a clear message, he said. “And not the typical Brussels way of saying yes, by basically saying not yet, maybe or meaning no.”

In contrast, Jörg Kukies, State Secretary in the Federal Chancellery, urged patience. “Ukraine is part of the European family,” he said. However, admission procedures must be followed. “And we must not, in the course of admitting Ukraine, give the impression to those who have been carrying out reforms for many years, who in the case of northern Macedonia have even changed their name, that others are being favored.” That could lead to very negative reactions in the Western Balkan countries, Kukies warned.

EU Parliament threatens sanctions for former Chancellor Schröder

SPD former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder will lose his staff and office endowment in the Bundestag with immediate effect. The budget committee of the Bundestag decided on Thursday a corresponding motion of the traffic light coalition of SPD, Greens, and FDP, which was also supported by the opposition CDU/CSU. Accordingly, the office of the 78-year-old with last four employees will now be wound up.

Schröder had come under increased criticism after the Russian invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24 because of his closeness to Russian President Vladimir Putin and his posts at energy companies in the country. The European Parliament even wants to put him on the sanctions list against oligarchs. The parliament on Thursday called on the 27-EU member states to put Schröder, as well as Austrian former foreign minister Karin Kneissl, on the sanctions list if they do not give up their posts at Russian energy company Rosneft. Schröder is chairman of the supervisory board, Kneissl a member of the board.

Formally, the former chancellor’s office in the Bundestag is dormant, but in fact it is being wound up. Last year, the costs for personnel and travel of the employees in the office of the former chancellor amounted to almost €419,000. This does not include expenses for the rooms and their furnishings. The application did not address Schröder’s controversial contacts with Russia and the Ukraine war. These, however, provided the impetus for cutting the staff positions. Schröder retains his pension and personal protection.

The European Parliament passed a resolution saying that after several Western politicians gave up posts in Russian corporations, they strongly demanded that others like Karin Kneissl and Gerhard Schröder do the same. Parliament called for the list of people affected by EU sanctions to be extended to include European members of the boards of major Russian companies and politicians who continue to receive Russian money.

So far, the assets of hundreds of oligarchs and officials linked to the Russian leadership have been frozen due to EU sanctions related to the Ukraine war. Europeans with top positions in Russian companies have not been directly affected so far. rtr

Contract amendment: Scholz warns against navel-gazing

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz takes a skeptical view of the discussion on amending the European treaties. “If there’s one thing we don’t need at this time, it’s controversial, time- and energy-consuming navel-gazing on institutional issues,” he said in his government statement to the Bundestag. If the matter required it, it was possible to talk about amending the treaties including a convention that would be necessary to do so. “What is important, however, is that we achieve the greatest possible consensus in the process.”

At the closing event of the conference on the future of Europe, French President Emmanuel Macron spoke out in favor of treaty changes. He thus backed demands from the European Parliament, which wants to convene a convention. However, 13 member states immediately made it clear that they were skeptical about such a politically sensitive undertaking. Formally, a majority of the 27 governments in the Council would have to agree to the convening of a convention. However, a treaty change as a result of the process would require the ratification of all member states. Observers therefore warn against pushing ahead with such an amendment against the will of several countries.

Scholz argued that the Future Conference had shown that citizens wanted reforms in the EU, such as more consistency in climate protection or progress in European defense. “Much of this can be implemented quickly; it doesn’t require lengthy changes to the treaties,” he said. “Good proposals from the Commission are enough for that.” He said this also applies to the demand, raised by Germany among others, to extend majority decisions in the Council to other fields such as foreign and security policy. More and more are joining this idea.

The EU heads of state and government want to discuss these issues at the special summit in Brussels at the end of May. There, they will also discuss how national armed forces and defense industries can be more closely integrated. The coexistence of a large number of different weapons systems is expensive and inefficient, said Scholz: “Things cannot go on like this.” tho

EU Commission: debt rules probably suspended until 2023

In view of the Ukraine war and gloomy economic prospects, the EU Commission is likely to turn a blind eye to European debt rules for another year. On Monday, according to insiders familiar with the matter, it will probably propose leaving the rules suspended in 2023 as well. The conditions for this are still in place and in 2024 the exemption clause could then be suspended again, it was said in Brussels on Thursday.

The EU debt rules were suspended in 2020 to give countries more leeway to cushion the impact of the pandemic. They actually stipulate that new debt be limited to three percent of economic output and total debt to 60 percent.

In the COVID-19 pandemic, debt levels have soared, making the target a distant prospect. France and several southern European countries are therefore pressing for a reform of the rules. According to German Finance Minister Christian Lindner, the fiscal rules should be more realistic and effective. There must be a more credible long-term path to debt reduction, combined with flexible medium-term targets.

Some of the euro countries have put together various packages to relieve companies and consumers from sharply increased energy prices since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In addition, aid for refugees from Ukraine is driving up government spending. According to the EU Commission’s forecast, debt as a percentage of economic output in the eurozone is likely to fall to just under 95 percent in the current year and to almost 93 percent in 2023. However, that would still be above the level before the pandemic crisis. The EU Commission expects gross domestic product (GDP) in the eurozone to increase by only 2.7 percent in 2022. At the same time, it anticipates an inflation rate of 6.1 percent. rtr

Lower Saxony clears the way for gas production on the Wattenmeer tidelands

Against the backdrop of the Ukraine war, Lower Saxony has now come out in favor of natural gas production on the edge of the Wadden Sea in the border region with the Netherlands after all. With the votes of the SPD and CDU government factions as well as the FDP, the state parliament on Thursday rescinded a contrary resolution from the fall. The Greens rejected it. In October, the extraction near the island of Borkum had still been rejected by parliament due to environmental concerns.

The Dutch company ONE-Dyas wants to produce there, and the gas field extends into both Dutch and German territorial waters. The federal government has no jurisdiction in this case; it lies with the country. Production is considered possible from 2024. The size of the gas field is estimated at up to 60 billion cubic meters. German annual consumption is around 90 billion cubic meters.

State Economics Minister Bernd Althusmann (CDU) referred to the changed situation since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February: “Since February 24, we know that we have to completely rethink the issue of energy supply security and revise old views,” he explained. ONE-Dyas, moreover, could produce in the Dutch part anyway, and the Wadden Sea World Heritage Site would remain untouched. The gas produced from German territory would also be supplied to the German market.

Germany still produces about five percent of its consumption itself. Around 35 percent comes from Russia. According to the German government, it will continue to rely on Russian gas until 2024.

With LNG terminals to independence

The terminals planned in Lower Saxony for importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) are also intended to contribute to independence from Russian gas imports. According to Energy Minister Olaf Lies, the terminals are to replace gas imports completely in the future. At the same time, the prerequisites for importing gas from renewable sources in the future will be created in Wilhelmshaven and Stade, the SPD politician said in the state parliament in Hanover on Thursday.

Accordingly, the LNG terminal in Wilhelmshaven is to have a capacity of initially 8 billion and in the future at least 22 billion cubic meters of gas per year, while the one in Stade could be used for a further 13 billion cubic meters. That would be roughly equivalent to the amount of Russian gas Germany imports today, Lies said.

As a result of the new infrastructure, the minister held out the prospect of new industrial settlements. As in the coalfields of the Ruhr region in the past, industry will follow energy, Lies said. rtr/dpa

Poland: companies doubt independence of courts

Citizens and companies in Poland and Croatia have little confidence in the independence of the judiciary. In the EU Commission’s new Justice Scoreboard, the two countries perform worst of all member states on this point. In Poland, only just under 20 percent of the companies surveyed said they considered the courts and judges to be independent. Three-quarters of the companies, therefore, doubt that their investments are effectively protected by laws and the judiciary there.

The values are based on a Eurobarometer survey. Among Polish citizens, doubts about the independence of the judiciary are similarly strong. In particular, they see the danger of political influence on judgments. Confidence is even lower only among Croatian citizens.

The EU Commission has long accused the PiS government in Warsaw of systematically undermining the independence of the courts and has therefore initiated several infringement proceedings. Hungary, the second country where the Commission has expressed massive criticism of the rule of law, receives somewhat better scores for judicial independence. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán faces allegations of corruption in particular. Slovakia, Bulgaria, and Italy, among others, also receive poor scores in the evaluation of the judiciary. tho

What’s cooking in Brussels

Brussels scramble: On May 30 and 31, the 27 heads of state and government will meet in Brussels for an extraordinary European Council devoted to the war in Ukraine. Yet, while the European Union preaches unity toward Russia, the rift in the European edifice between the Franco-German pair and the Central and Eastern European countries is widening.

Most EU summits take place in Brussels in that building colloquially known as “The Egg”. Next door, the press rooms of Germany and France are located next to each other. These are the rooms where the heads of state and government usually address the press at a very late hour after long negotiations.

The fact that the two press rooms are next to each other is of course highly symbolic and in its own way reflects the weight of the Franco-German pair in European diplomacy. This weight is regularly denounced as oppressive by the other member states.

Now the war in Ukraine is fundamentally changing the situation here, too. Berlin and Paris see their initiatives, positions and strategies with regard to Moscow seriously challenged – by the Central and Eastern European countries. Seriously, because the war in Ukraine has sustainably strengthened the legitimacy of these member states’ arguments – a legitimacy that has its roots in their national and sometimes personal histories.

So says Kaja Kallas, prime minister of Estonia. She is a fierce critic of the ongoing efforts of politicians like Emmanuel Macron to cultivate contacts with Vladimir Putin as Ukraine fights for its existence as an independent state. She has received much praise for her warnings that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine represents a turning point in European history and must be beaten back at all costs and without compromise. But just not from Paris and Berlin. Kaja Kallas spoke about her own history in her speech to the European Parliament on March 9: Her family was deported by Stalin and sent to Siberia. Her mother was only six months old at the time.

“Can no longer trust Germany and France”

And while Warsaw, Prague or Tallinn did not hesitate to supply weapons to Ukraine, Olaf Scholz was reluctant to do so for a long time. A position that clearly contrasts with the attitude of Washington and London, the main suppliers of weapons to Ukraine. And one that, of course, does not leave him cold.

“We, the Eastern and Central Europeans, can no longer trust France and Germany. After the war in Ukraine, we should rethink our security and conclude security pacts with the US and the UK,” tweeted Ivana Stradner, for example, after her appearance in the EU Parliament about the threat to European security posed by Russian information warfare.

Emmanuel Macron’s May 9 proposal to create a “European Political Community” also offends some in Central and Eastern Europe. They suspect Macron of wanting to use it as a parking lot for Kyiv and other countries seeking to join. The Czech government, on the other hand, wants to make Ukraine’s accession one of the priorities of its presidency, which begins July 1. Berlin and Paris, on the other hand, warn against a hasty admission.

What’s more, Macron spoke in the speech about his concern not to “humiliate” Russia in the event of a – still very uncertain – defeat in Ukraine. Many Balts, for example, see things differently: “We believe that Russia must be punished, reparations must be imposed on it and it must be ensured that there is a regime change in Moscow,” Margarita Seselgyte, director of the Lithuanian Institute of International Relations, told Le Monde.

“Customer service” for France

Incidentally, the idea of a “European Political Community” goes back more than 30 years to a French idea originally voiced by President Francois Mitterand. On December 31, 1989, there was a new wind was blowing on the European continent: the Berlin Wall had fallen, Germany was initiating its reunification, while the Eastern European countries were closing the communist chapter.

Yet Emmanuel Macron is the one of the French presidents who has most clearly recognized the political gains, both domestic and foreign, that he can derive from involvement in the European Union. Consider his role in elevating Ursula von der Leyen to head the European Commission. Yet also consider his influence over Charles Michel, who is perceived in the Brussels bubble as providing “customer service” to the French president. Indeed, following Macron’s “European Political Community,” Charles Michel this week called for the creation of a “European Geopolitical Community.”

EUROPE.TABLE EDITORS

Till
Hoppe

Charlotte
Wirth

Falk
Steiner

Timo
Landenberger

Corinna
Visser

Lukas
Knigge

Eric
Bonse

Sarah
Schaefer

Manuel
Berkel

Lisa-Martina
Klein

Markus
Grabitz

Stephan
Israel

Claire
Stam

Dear reader,

It’s a major step toward energy security: yesterday, the European institutions reached a fast-track agreement on a new gas storage regulation. Manuel Berkel analyzes exactly what it will look like and what exceptions there will be to the obligation.

What happens when you press the gas pedal and the brake at the same time? It squeaks and smokes. That’s what’s happening between the EU Commission, which is stepping on the gas for Ukraine’s accession process, and France and Germany, which are pulling the breaks at the same time. My colleague Eric Bonse predicts a dispute at the EU summit in June.

From other member states, France and Germany are often perceived as having an overwhelming political weight. Estonia’s Prime Minister Kaja Kallas is probably one of the pair’s loudest critics at the moment, but voices are also being raised elsewhere that the two countries can no longer be trusted. Claire Stam again serves up morsels from Brussels in her weekly column.

Another look at the news: Former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder has lost his office and his staff in the Bundestag with immediate effect. The European Parliament even wants to impose sanctions on the 78-year-old if he does not give up his post on the supervisory board of the Russian energy company Rosneft.

Have a nice weekend

Your
Lisa-Martina Klein

States block higher gas storage obligations

After a marathon 16-hour negotiating session Monday night, things moved quickly Thursday. “We have it. Energy for our citizens and businesses is secured,” Jerzy Buzek (EPP), the Parliament’s chief negotiator, was able to announce after a short trialogue in the morning. The new, EU-wide gas storage obligations are intended to ensure supply even if gas stops flowing from Russia. The operators of the facilities are also to prove their reliability through certification – a measure primarily aimed at Gazprom.

Almost at the same time, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) emphasized cohesion in the EU during his government statement in Berlin: “At the European level, the main thing is to ensure that there are no bottlenecks in the energy supply of individual member states. That is an imperative of European solidarity.”

The Commission presented an initial target at the end of March: At least 80 percent of all storage facilities should be filled by November 1 or December 1 at the latest, and 90 percent in subsequent years. However, this could result in high costs for the 18 member states with storage facilities. If the gas industry were to hold back on filling because of market turbulence, governments would have to buy gas themselves in an emergency.

States without gas storage facilities should build up stocks anyway

The EU members should therefore agree on financial burden sharing. The alternative: countries without their own storage facilities would have to store 15 percent of their annual consumption in other countries – as a reserve for the winter and in exchange for fees. In addition to the costs, overly strict storage obligations could lead to other inconveniences. In order to build up enough reserves for the heating season, in extreme cases, shutdowns of industrial or commercial operations could already be pending during the summer. The exceptions that the member states pushed through in the trilogue should be seen against this background.

Based on Commission figures, Parliament actually wanted to achieve a minimum filling level of 90 percent already for this year, as Europe.Table learned from negotiating circles. As a result, the target of 80 percent for the current year was retained. Because of exceptions for individual states, there are even internal fears that the target will ultimately only be 75 percent. In the recitals of the regulation, countries with storage facilities are therefore encouraged to store more gas than required. The hope is that this will bring the EU average to 85 percent.

The exceptions apply, on the one hand, to states that are not yet connected by pipelines, namely Ireland, Malta and Cyprus. An even more important deviation was pushed through by a handful of states that have very large storage facilities in relation to their own gas consumption. According to reports, these are Hungary, Austria, Latvia and Slovakia.

Owners consumption as limit

According to Thursday’s agreement, storage obligations are to be limited to 35 percent of own national consumption. However, in response to a question from Europe.Table, the spokesman for the industry committee, Christian-Silviu Bușoi (EPP), dismissed fears that several important storage facilities would therefore hardly be filled. “The solidarity principle applies and the invitation to member states to use storage in other states if capacity is available.” For their part member states with large storage facilities are encouraged to support others and stockpile gas on their territory for others.

Interim targets for filling the reservoirs in individual months of the summer half-year were also retained. For this year, the Council would have preferred to delete them, even though the Commission had already not set them as high for the current year as in subsequent years. Instead, the filling paths remain in place and, according to Bușois, they are now even mandatory for the states and no longer voluntary.

However, there were two concessions to the member states: downward deviations of up to five instead of two percentage points are now permitted on the individual cut-off dates, and the paths from 2023 onwards will be redefined by the Commission at the proposal of the member states. In addition, the expensive storage obligations are to expire at the end of 2025. By then, the Union hopes to be independent of Russia in terms of gas.

Greens push for energy efficiency and conservation

For Green negotiator Marie Toussaint, it is clear how the EU should achieve this goal: “Massive energy savings and energy efficiency measures must be implemented by then.” To that end, the Greens would have enshrined in the regulation that the role of energy efficiency in energy security is recognized.

CDU MEP Markus Pieper, in turn, welcomed the fact that EU states can also deliver on their commitments through joint procurement of energy: “When member states make their gas purchases jointly, they strengthen strategic energy security while helping to reduce price volatility.”

The member states have successfully negotiated more time for the certification of storage operators. Whereas the Commission had proposed a deadline of 100 working days for large companies with suspiciously empty reservoirs, a deadline of 150 days has now been agreed.

Scholz slows down Ukraine’s EU accession

New trouble is looming in the EU’s enlargement policy, which has been controversial for years. Following France’s lead, Germany on Thursday warned that Ukraine’s planned accession to the EU was moving too quickly – and took a stand against the EU Commission, which is calling for the country to be admitted quickly. French President Emmanuel Macron was right to point out that Ukraine’s accession process was “not a matter of a few months or a few years,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said during a government statement in the Bundestag in Berlin.

There should be “no shortcuts” to the EU for Kyiv, Scholz stressed. Fairness toward other accession candidates in the Western Balkans alone demanded this. Therefore the focus should be on providing Ukraine with “quick and pragmatic support.” Macron had argued similarly shortly after his re-election in early May. Accession is a matter of years or decades, the French leader said. Therefore, he said, one must think about offering countries like Ukraine an alternative, such as a loose “European political community.”

In contrast, the EU Commission is counting on rapid and close integration that goes even beyond the normal accession procedure. Commission head Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday proposed a special reconstruction solidarity fund to initiate and finance the reforms needed for accession. Von der Leyen had already pledged her support to Ukraine during a trip to Kyiv in April. Her office is currently examining the application for membership, which President Volodymyr Selenskyj filled out in record time. In June, the Commission intends to decide whether the country will be granted candidate status.

“Second-class treatment of Ukraine”

A positive decision is expected in Brussels. The EU summit at the end of June could then officially recognize Ukraine as a candidate country. Immediately before the summit, however, EU Council President Charles Michel also wants to hold a summit with the six countries of the Western Balkans. In a speech on Wednesday, Michel had advocated the creation of a “European geopolitical community” reminiscent of Macron’s proposal, which would focus on foreign policy cooperation. This could include other countries besides the Western Balkans, Michel said, without naming names.

In addition to Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova have recently applied to join the EU. Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Turkey already have official candidate status. Talks with Turkey have been on hold for years. Albania and North Macedonia are currently considered favorites for rapid accession.

The countries of the Western Balkans have been waiting for the coveted ticket to the EU for two decades. They point out that, just like Ukraine, they had to go through a war. There should be no special treatment. But Ukraine is pressuring. “We don’t need substitutes for EU candidate status that show Ukraine’s second-class treatment and hurt Ukrainians’ feelings,” Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote on Twitter on Thursday shortly after Scholz’s speech. “Certain countries” were behaving ambiguously.

Adhere to recording procedures

The controversial nature of the enlargement policy was also evident at the Europe.Table conference in Berlin on Wednesday. British historian Timothy Garton Ash argued for Ukraine’s rapid accession. “The only appropriate response to Ukraine’s truly heroic defense of European values at present is to make Ukraine an EU candidate,” he said. The June European Council must send a clear message, he said. “And not the typical Brussels way of saying yes, by basically saying not yet, maybe or meaning no.”

In contrast, Jörg Kukies, State Secretary in the Federal Chancellery, urged patience. “Ukraine is part of the European family,” he said. However, admission procedures must be followed. “And we must not, in the course of admitting Ukraine, give the impression to those who have been carrying out reforms for many years, who in the case of northern Macedonia have even changed their name, that others are being favored.” That could lead to very negative reactions in the Western Balkan countries, Kukies warned.

EU Parliament threatens sanctions for former Chancellor Schröder

SPD former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder will lose his staff and office endowment in the Bundestag with immediate effect. The budget committee of the Bundestag decided on Thursday a corresponding motion of the traffic light coalition of SPD, Greens, and FDP, which was also supported by the opposition CDU/CSU. Accordingly, the office of the 78-year-old with last four employees will now be wound up.

Schröder had come under increased criticism after the Russian invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24 because of his closeness to Russian President Vladimir Putin and his posts at energy companies in the country. The European Parliament even wants to put him on the sanctions list against oligarchs. The parliament on Thursday called on the 27-EU member states to put Schröder, as well as Austrian former foreign minister Karin Kneissl, on the sanctions list if they do not give up their posts at Russian energy company Rosneft. Schröder is chairman of the supervisory board, Kneissl a member of the board.

Formally, the former chancellor’s office in the Bundestag is dormant, but in fact it is being wound up. Last year, the costs for personnel and travel of the employees in the office of the former chancellor amounted to almost €419,000. This does not include expenses for the rooms and their furnishings. The application did not address Schröder’s controversial contacts with Russia and the Ukraine war. These, however, provided the impetus for cutting the staff positions. Schröder retains his pension and personal protection.

The European Parliament passed a resolution saying that after several Western politicians gave up posts in Russian corporations, they strongly demanded that others like Karin Kneissl and Gerhard Schröder do the same. Parliament called for the list of people affected by EU sanctions to be extended to include European members of the boards of major Russian companies and politicians who continue to receive Russian money.

So far, the assets of hundreds of oligarchs and officials linked to the Russian leadership have been frozen due to EU sanctions related to the Ukraine war. Europeans with top positions in Russian companies have not been directly affected so far. rtr

Contract amendment: Scholz warns against navel-gazing

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz takes a skeptical view of the discussion on amending the European treaties. “If there’s one thing we don’t need at this time, it’s controversial, time- and energy-consuming navel-gazing on institutional issues,” he said in his government statement to the Bundestag. If the matter required it, it was possible to talk about amending the treaties including a convention that would be necessary to do so. “What is important, however, is that we achieve the greatest possible consensus in the process.”

At the closing event of the conference on the future of Europe, French President Emmanuel Macron spoke out in favor of treaty changes. He thus backed demands from the European Parliament, which wants to convene a convention. However, 13 member states immediately made it clear that they were skeptical about such a politically sensitive undertaking. Formally, a majority of the 27 governments in the Council would have to agree to the convening of a convention. However, a treaty change as a result of the process would require the ratification of all member states. Observers therefore warn against pushing ahead with such an amendment against the will of several countries.

Scholz argued that the Future Conference had shown that citizens wanted reforms in the EU, such as more consistency in climate protection or progress in European defense. “Much of this can be implemented quickly; it doesn’t require lengthy changes to the treaties,” he said. “Good proposals from the Commission are enough for that.” He said this also applies to the demand, raised by Germany among others, to extend majority decisions in the Council to other fields such as foreign and security policy. More and more are joining this idea.

The EU heads of state and government want to discuss these issues at the special summit in Brussels at the end of May. There, they will also discuss how national armed forces and defense industries can be more closely integrated. The coexistence of a large number of different weapons systems is expensive and inefficient, said Scholz: “Things cannot go on like this.” tho

EU Commission: debt rules probably suspended until 2023

In view of the Ukraine war and gloomy economic prospects, the EU Commission is likely to turn a blind eye to European debt rules for another year. On Monday, according to insiders familiar with the matter, it will probably propose leaving the rules suspended in 2023 as well. The conditions for this are still in place and in 2024 the exemption clause could then be suspended again, it was said in Brussels on Thursday.

The EU debt rules were suspended in 2020 to give countries more leeway to cushion the impact of the pandemic. They actually stipulate that new debt be limited to three percent of economic output and total debt to 60 percent.

In the COVID-19 pandemic, debt levels have soared, making the target a distant prospect. France and several southern European countries are therefore pressing for a reform of the rules. According to German Finance Minister Christian Lindner, the fiscal rules should be more realistic and effective. There must be a more credible long-term path to debt reduction, combined with flexible medium-term targets.

Some of the euro countries have put together various packages to relieve companies and consumers from sharply increased energy prices since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In addition, aid for refugees from Ukraine is driving up government spending. According to the EU Commission’s forecast, debt as a percentage of economic output in the eurozone is likely to fall to just under 95 percent in the current year and to almost 93 percent in 2023. However, that would still be above the level before the pandemic crisis. The EU Commission expects gross domestic product (GDP) in the eurozone to increase by only 2.7 percent in 2022. At the same time, it anticipates an inflation rate of 6.1 percent. rtr

Lower Saxony clears the way for gas production on the Wattenmeer tidelands

Against the backdrop of the Ukraine war, Lower Saxony has now come out in favor of natural gas production on the edge of the Wadden Sea in the border region with the Netherlands after all. With the votes of the SPD and CDU government factions as well as the FDP, the state parliament on Thursday rescinded a contrary resolution from the fall. The Greens rejected it. In October, the extraction near the island of Borkum had still been rejected by parliament due to environmental concerns.

The Dutch company ONE-Dyas wants to produce there, and the gas field extends into both Dutch and German territorial waters. The federal government has no jurisdiction in this case; it lies with the country. Production is considered possible from 2024. The size of the gas field is estimated at up to 60 billion cubic meters. German annual consumption is around 90 billion cubic meters.

State Economics Minister Bernd Althusmann (CDU) referred to the changed situation since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February: “Since February 24, we know that we have to completely rethink the issue of energy supply security and revise old views,” he explained. ONE-Dyas, moreover, could produce in the Dutch part anyway, and the Wadden Sea World Heritage Site would remain untouched. The gas produced from German territory would also be supplied to the German market.

Germany still produces about five percent of its consumption itself. Around 35 percent comes from Russia. According to the German government, it will continue to rely on Russian gas until 2024.

With LNG terminals to independence

The terminals planned in Lower Saxony for importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) are also intended to contribute to independence from Russian gas imports. According to Energy Minister Olaf Lies, the terminals are to replace gas imports completely in the future. At the same time, the prerequisites for importing gas from renewable sources in the future will be created in Wilhelmshaven and Stade, the SPD politician said in the state parliament in Hanover on Thursday.

Accordingly, the LNG terminal in Wilhelmshaven is to have a capacity of initially 8 billion and in the future at least 22 billion cubic meters of gas per year, while the one in Stade could be used for a further 13 billion cubic meters. That would be roughly equivalent to the amount of Russian gas Germany imports today, Lies said.

As a result of the new infrastructure, the minister held out the prospect of new industrial settlements. As in the coalfields of the Ruhr region in the past, industry will follow energy, Lies said. rtr/dpa

Poland: companies doubt independence of courts

Citizens and companies in Poland and Croatia have little confidence in the independence of the judiciary. In the EU Commission’s new Justice Scoreboard, the two countries perform worst of all member states on this point. In Poland, only just under 20 percent of the companies surveyed said they considered the courts and judges to be independent. Three-quarters of the companies, therefore, doubt that their investments are effectively protected by laws and the judiciary there.

The values are based on a Eurobarometer survey. Among Polish citizens, doubts about the independence of the judiciary are similarly strong. In particular, they see the danger of political influence on judgments. Confidence is even lower only among Croatian citizens.

The EU Commission has long accused the PiS government in Warsaw of systematically undermining the independence of the courts and has therefore initiated several infringement proceedings. Hungary, the second country where the Commission has expressed massive criticism of the rule of law, receives somewhat better scores for judicial independence. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán faces allegations of corruption in particular. Slovakia, Bulgaria, and Italy, among others, also receive poor scores in the evaluation of the judiciary. tho

What’s cooking in Brussels

Brussels scramble: On May 30 and 31, the 27 heads of state and government will meet in Brussels for an extraordinary European Council devoted to the war in Ukraine. Yet, while the European Union preaches unity toward Russia, the rift in the European edifice between the Franco-German pair and the Central and Eastern European countries is widening.

Most EU summits take place in Brussels in that building colloquially known as “The Egg”. Next door, the press rooms of Germany and France are located next to each other. These are the rooms where the heads of state and government usually address the press at a very late hour after long negotiations.

The fact that the two press rooms are next to each other is of course highly symbolic and in its own way reflects the weight of the Franco-German pair in European diplomacy. This weight is regularly denounced as oppressive by the other member states.

Now the war in Ukraine is fundamentally changing the situation here, too. Berlin and Paris see their initiatives, positions and strategies with regard to Moscow seriously challenged – by the Central and Eastern European countries. Seriously, because the war in Ukraine has sustainably strengthened the legitimacy of these member states’ arguments – a legitimacy that has its roots in their national and sometimes personal histories.

So says Kaja Kallas, prime minister of Estonia. She is a fierce critic of the ongoing efforts of politicians like Emmanuel Macron to cultivate contacts with Vladimir Putin as Ukraine fights for its existence as an independent state. She has received much praise for her warnings that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine represents a turning point in European history and must be beaten back at all costs and without compromise. But just not from Paris and Berlin. Kaja Kallas spoke about her own history in her speech to the European Parliament on March 9: Her family was deported by Stalin and sent to Siberia. Her mother was only six months old at the time.

“Can no longer trust Germany and France”

And while Warsaw, Prague or Tallinn did not hesitate to supply weapons to Ukraine, Olaf Scholz was reluctant to do so for a long time. A position that clearly contrasts with the attitude of Washington and London, the main suppliers of weapons to Ukraine. And one that, of course, does not leave him cold.

“We, the Eastern and Central Europeans, can no longer trust France and Germany. After the war in Ukraine, we should rethink our security and conclude security pacts with the US and the UK,” tweeted Ivana Stradner, for example, after her appearance in the EU Parliament about the threat to European security posed by Russian information warfare.

Emmanuel Macron’s May 9 proposal to create a “European Political Community” also offends some in Central and Eastern Europe. They suspect Macron of wanting to use it as a parking lot for Kyiv and other countries seeking to join. The Czech government, on the other hand, wants to make Ukraine’s accession one of the priorities of its presidency, which begins July 1. Berlin and Paris, on the other hand, warn against a hasty admission.

What’s more, Macron spoke in the speech about his concern not to “humiliate” Russia in the event of a – still very uncertain – defeat in Ukraine. Many Balts, for example, see things differently: “We believe that Russia must be punished, reparations must be imposed on it and it must be ensured that there is a regime change in Moscow,” Margarita Seselgyte, director of the Lithuanian Institute of International Relations, told Le Monde.

“Customer service” for France

Incidentally, the idea of a “European Political Community” goes back more than 30 years to a French idea originally voiced by President Francois Mitterand. On December 31, 1989, there was a new wind was blowing on the European continent: the Berlin Wall had fallen, Germany was initiating its reunification, while the Eastern European countries were closing the communist chapter.

Yet Emmanuel Macron is the one of the French presidents who has most clearly recognized the political gains, both domestic and foreign, that he can derive from involvement in the European Union. Consider his role in elevating Ursula von der Leyen to head the European Commission. Yet also consider his influence over Charles Michel, who is perceived in the Brussels bubble as providing “customer service” to the French president. Indeed, following Macron’s “European Political Community,” Charles Michel this week called for the creation of a “European Geopolitical Community.”