“If Greens stop defending the Green Deal, no one else will.” With this mantra, the European Green Party (EGP) in Lyon rallied for the 2024 European election campaign over the weekend. To represent them in the upcoming European elections, the 368 delegates from almost all EU countries chose experienced candidates: Terry Reintke and Bas Eickhout will be the faces of the European Greens in the European election campaign.
As the Green parliamentary group leader in the EU Parliament and the German Green lead candidate, Reintke will primarily campaign for votes in Germany, the most populous and green core country. Dutchman Eickhout, one of Brussels’ most prominent environmental politicians and former EGP lead candidate in 2019, will focus more on the international campaign.
In Lyon, it became clear once again that this campaign, unlike in 2019, will hardly consist of fresh accents. In the last European elections, climate and environmental policies were at the forefront due to societal movements like Fridays for Future, which was reflected in the Greens’ election results. Another consequence of societal pressure was Ursula von der Leyen’s Green Deal.
The pressure is now coming from different quarters. Farmers, industry, and social organizations either explicitly demand less stringent rules or warn of the social and economic consequences of further EU regulation. Support for these doubts comes mainly from Christian Democrats, who have recently attempted, partly successfully, to block Green Deal laws. Climate and especially environmental policy have lost societal acceptance, as have the Greens’ policies.
For the party that stands like no other for climate and environmental protection, the slogan for the election campaign is, therefore, to defend the Green Deal and not roll back the achievements, as the EPP would like to do, for example, with the phasing out of combustion engines. “The EPP has made the political decision to zigzag,” complains lead candidate Reintke in an interview with Table.Media. They have gone in one direction for five years and now want to take back central things and go in the other direction. “This is economic nonsense,” says Reintke.
The problem is that the Greens must make arrangements with exactly this EPP if they want to actively shape the Green Deal 2.0 because the EPP is expected to provide Ursula von der Leyen as the next Commission President. But they are ready for negotiations, Reintke emphasizes, but also set clear boundaries.
So, Greens voting for a Commission president von der Leyen this time and becoming part of the supporting majority is not ruled out – for some in the party, it is even considered the only way to save the Green Deal at all. But the support comes with a price: No cooperation with political forces to the right of the EPP – meaning with the right-wing ID or the conservative ECR.
After the election, they will look at the negotiating table to see what they can achieve and what goes against red lines. “If we don’t get anything, we won’t be part of a majority either,” Reintke clarifies. But if it goes in the right direction and they can push forward central questions, they are ready to be part of a majority.
The Greens also set conditions for agricultural policy. “If the Green Deal 2.0 does not include a plan for agriculture, then it will be problematic,” says Eickhout. He calls for a long-term vision for agriculture in line with the Farm-to-Fork strategy.
He does not see the societal mood against new agricultural regulations as contradictory to the green demands. “We must convince parts of the agricultural sector – I have no illusions that everyone will join in – but the part that wants to change must recognize that the Greens are an ally for them.”
Eickhout rejects the notion that the Christian Democrats represent the interests of farmers and complains that they only pretend that agricultural change must take place but are afraid to take action. “When von der Leyen says she is talking to farmers, she is talking to Copa Cogeca.” These are not the farmers but the chemical and fertilizer industry, says Eickhout.
The young farmers and their interest representation are not against ecologicalization. “They see that things need to change, but they have the problem that change is unpredictable.” The strategy in the campaign must be to ally with those who want things to change.
Anton Hofreiter, chairman of the European Affairs Committee in the Bundestag, also calls for putting European sovereignty at the forefront of the European election campaign. “We must run a campaign that puts Europe’s self-assertion at the center: against attacks by fascists from within and authoritarian and dictatorial regimes like Russia and China from outside.”
In their EU elections program, which was voted on in Lyon on Sunday, the Greens demand:
Amendments to the program from the federal executive of the German Greens had raised questions in the meantime and also caused outrage among green climate politicians. Instead of a climate-neutral Europe by 2040, as proposed by the EGP, the federal executive wanted to push this goal back five years. However, they were not able to push this through. The majority of the delegates in Lyon voted for the more ambitious goals.
When the Commission announces its proposal for a new climate target on Tuesday, Europe’s future will likely not be mentioned. By 2040, member states are expected to reduce 90 percent of their greenhouse gas emissions. All member states?
Ten countries in the east and southeast of the continent aim to join the EU27, and at least the Western Balkan countries have a good chance of celebrating this event in the 2030s. However, the Commission indirectly admits that it has not involved the candidate countries in the most important undertaking of its future climate policy.
A Commission official points to the public consultation conducted by the authority last year: “No position papers were received from the accession candidates.” The question of expansion was also not addressed in meetings with interest groups. However, the Commission is playing it very slim with this approach.
The Commission’s consultations usually involve citizens of the Member States, scientists, and above all, NGOs and business associations. They are not the format for government negotiations.
“The EU is turning a blind eye to the big picture despite some efforts in detail,” complains Eleonora Allena from the Climate Action Network. “It is missing the opportunity to involve the Western Balkans in setting the climate targets for 2040.” Even in a well-established format for cooperation with Eastern neighbors, the goals have not yet been negotiated.
“The Commission and the member states could have also started consulting the candidate countries within the framework of the Energy Community – as they did with the 2030 goals,” says Jörg Mühlenhoff from the Böll Foundation. Unfortunately, this step has not yet been taken.
The Energy Community is supposed to help the European Union’s neighbors adopt its energy and climate laws. All EU candidate countries are parties to the Energy Community – except for Turkey, which has observer status. The Energy Community attributes the lack of participation in the 2040 framework to the current Fit-for-55 package for 2030: “Our main focus is currently on the practical implementation of this goal.“
On paper, the contracting parties aim to reduce their emissions by 2030 even more strongly than the EU – according to the Energy Community by 60.9 percent. “However, our analysis has shown that the Western Balkan countries are far from achieving even their goals for 2030,” says Allena.
Already last June, the Climate Action Network demanded that expansion be considered in setting the climate target. The high share of fossil energy in many future EU states becomes a shared problem upon accession.
“Their strong dependence on coal-fired power plants could make it particularly difficult for Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina to reduce their emissions by 90 percent by 2040,” says Mühlenhoff. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), coal consumption is even much higher in Ukraine and especially in Turkey compared to the Western Balkans. If all ten candidate countries were to join the EU, the coal consumption of the community would increase by around 46 percent based on 2021 data.
If these countries do not align their energy supply with EU goals, they risk high costs through emissions trading upon accession. For the Commission and the EU states, this means that they must better support the candidate countries – materially and personnel-wise.
“The Moldovan authorities are already benefiting from the gradually increasing EU support in energy and climate legislation,” explains a spokesperson for the Moldovan delegation in Brussels. “However, they rely on additional technical and expert assistance from the EU for implementation.” Lea Fanku, an employee of the Albanian delegation, also sees overwhelmed government apparatuses in the Western Balkan states in a guest contribution for the European Council on Foreign Relations.
Financially, NGOs consider the usual pot for candidate countries – the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA) – insufficient. The issue must be considered in negotiations for the next Multiannual Financial Framework, says Allena. Already now, the EU could open the Just Transition Fund, the Recovery and Resilience Facility, and REPowerEU for the candidates, according to the Böll Foundation.
“It is important to act now, as there could be a backlash from national governments,” warns Mühlenhoff. “Individual candidate countries could stick to their fossil energy companies, possibly supported by energy companies from China and Russia.”
So far, however, the Commission also has its reasons why it does not expand financial assistance further. Recent commitments from the new growth plan for the Western Balkans are more dependent on progress in the rule of law than before, writes Fanku.
However, the major EU candidate countries have recently announced forward-looking steps. Turkey plans to introduce emissions trading in 2026, reports Germany Trade & Invest. At the end of January, the Ukrainian government promised a pilot phase of its certificate trading as early as 2025. Even during the war, it is possible to enable the industry to understand how this market works, said Environment Minister Ruslan Strilets.
The different positions on the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East dominated the EU-Indo-Pacific summit. Representatives of countries from the Global South accused the European Union of double standards regarding the wars in Ukraine and Gaza at the meetings. Negotiations on the wording of a joint statement with the ASEAN states were tough. The summit revealed that the EU’s plan to position itself as a counterweight to China in the Indo-Pacific region will be more difficult than perhaps expected under the current geopolitical conditions.
The joint statement released on Friday after the talks between European ministers and their counterparts from the Southeast Asian ASEAN bloc made this clear: “We agreed to condemn all attacks against civilians and we noted the call of some of us for a durable ceasefire,” reads the joint statement regarding the Gaza war. It continues: “We called for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, especially women, children, the sick and the elderly. In this context, some of us raised the importance of release from arbitrary detention.”
The statement also revealed the disagreement between the EU and ASEAN on the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine: “Most members strongly condemned the war in Ukraine (…) There were other views and different assessments of the situation and sanctions.
Several ministers from countries of the Global South made direct accusations against the European Union for its divergent policies on Ukraine and Gaza. The Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Ali Sabry formulated this very directly in front of media representatives in Brussels. He sees a “double standard when it comes to the Middle East and the plight of the Ukrainians.” “The credibility of the Western world is at stake unless you treat all of them equally,” he said.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi also urged EU ministers to exert more pressure on Israel to curb its military operations in Gaza. “No state is above the law,” Marsudi emphasized in her opening speech and appealed to European countries not to stop their support for the Palestinian refugee aid organization UNRWA and its work in Gaza. “Listen to your heart and do the right thing, to stop atrocities in Gaza, in Palestine,” she urged, emphasizing the “consistency with values and actions reflect sincerity of moral high ground … it shows who we actually are.”
Finland’s Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen rejected the accusations: “It’s not a double standard at all. We are steadfast against any targeting of civilians,” said Valtonen. “We have been condemning the Hamas attack very, very directly. But also, we do recognize that while Israel has the right to protect itself and its civilians, it also needs to do that obliging to international law and humanitarian law.” Valtonen also spoke with Marsudi about the issue on the sidelines of the event.
The EU has been struggling to find a united position on the war in Gaza since October. A growing number of EU member states are calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, while others insist on Israel’s right to retaliate and eliminate the Hamas terrorist group. There are also differing views on this within the EU Commission. EU Foreign Affairs Representative Josep Borrell warned: “Our position in the conflict in Gaza could certainly jeopardize our relations with many people in the world.”
And that could play into China’s hands. Beijing has discovered the Middle East as an important element of its geopolitical strategy. With a combination of diplomatic skill, seemingly neutral reservation and a dash of anti-Americanism, Beijing is trying to gain influence in the region. To score points with Arab and Muslim governments, China is taking a clear stance in support of the Palestinians and positioning itself as the leader of the Global South.
However, in the joint statement from the EU and ASEAN representatives, there was also agreement on issues that Beijing is unlikely to be pleased with. Regarding the South China Sea, both sides reaffirm “the importance of the respect for the rule of law, sovereignty and territorial integrity of States, maritime security and safety, freedom of navigation” and emphasize compliance with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. “Self-restraint” should be exercised in all activities in the South China Sea. The EU and ASEAN also welcomed the development of a code of conduct for the South China Sea.
“The European Union has a lot to offer. We are a transparent and reliable partner,” said Borrell at the opening of the summit. He emphasized the joint commitments to work more closely in the fight against climate change, to strengthen trade, develop technology and invest in infrastructure. Around 70 delegations traveled to the event. 20 of the EU foreign ministers attended, more than last year. According to media reports, 25 ministers from the Indo-Pacific region were present.
However, the – repeated – absence of key players was criticized: German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock sent Minister of State Tobias Lindner to Brussels. Baerbock did not attend last year. France’s new Foreign Minister, Stéphane Séjourné, was also absent from the third Indo-Pacific Ministerial Meeting. Italy’s Antonio Tajani also skipped the Indo-Pacific part and only took part in the afternoon session with the ASEAN countries. Japanese Foreign Minister Yōko Kamikawa, Australia’s Penny Wong, India’s Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and South Korea’s new Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul all skipped the meeting. Neither China nor the US were invited this year.
The CDU in North Rhine-Westphalia decided on its state list for the European elections on Saturday. The lead candidate is EU parliamentarian Peter Liese. “We are in a recession, and there is short-time work in many places. Many people are worried about their jobs and their prosperity. We must make policies for these people,” Liese said according to a statement.
The candidates ranked two through seven are:
Long-time MEP Markus Pieper was not included on the list because he has been appointed as the EU Commission’s representative for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). ber
The former conflict-torn region of Northern Ireland now has its first prime minister who would like to see the British territory united with the EU member Ireland. Michelle O’Neill of the Sinn Fein party took over as the new First Minister in Belfast on Saturday, becoming the first Catholic woman in the 103-year history of the region. Sinn Fein hailed this historic event as a step towards Irish reunification.
O’Neill must govern with the DUP, which advocates for political union with Great Britain. Emma Little-Pengelly, a close ally of DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson, was nominated for the position of Deputy First Minister.
In an interview with the British TV channel Sky News, O’Neill made it clear that she does not share the position of the British government, which sees a referendum on the unification question as decades away. Her election demonstrates that the situation on the Irish island is changing.
O’Neill’s assumption of office ended the political crisis in Northern Ireland two years after the collapse of the previous government. Sinn Fein had received the most votes for the first time in the subsequent regional election in May 2022. However, the DUP refused to cooperate and demanded an end to all customs checks between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom, which the British central government and the EU had agreed upon after Brexit.
Just a few days ago, after negotiations with London, the DUP agreed to a new document. Intra-UK controls are to be reduced to a minimum. However, experts consider this agreement symbolic. The newspaper “Belfast Telegraph” commented that the DUP had missed its goal and was selling its defeat as a victory. dpa
Usually, Berlin politicians fly to Brussels. However, for her first official appointments, Helen Winter traveled in the “official van“. “Back then, in Bonn, we used to meet at six in the morning. We would then be driven to Brussels by car and back in the evening.”
In the former capital city, the economist started as a consultant at the Ministry for Economic Affairs a few years after the reunification. Her areas of focus are education policy and European SME policy. “At that time, for example, we were debating the definition of SMEs,” Winter recalls. In 1996, the Commission actually issued a recommendation for the first time to avoid distortions of competition in the promotion of SMEs.
The topics from her early days in Bonn still occupy the 59-year-old civil servant’s mind. In August 2022, she moved from the Chancellery in Berlin to the Permanent Representation in Brussels. As Ambassador for the COREPER I, where Deputy Permanent Representatives negotiate topics ranging from agricultural policy and education to climate and competition.
Helen Winter would also be well-placed in COREPER II – the committee overseen by Ambassador Michael Clauß. Because her specialty is international trade. She wrote her doctoral thesis in Tübingen on the interdependencies between industrial policy and trade policy of the European Community. “That was at a time when the term industrial policy was not mentioned,” Winter recalls. But the catchphrases from back then bear certain similarities to today’s debates.
Anti-dumping, anti-subsidy instruments – while today Europe seeks the right approach to China, in the 1980s, Japan was the new challenger. Back then, Europe managed to enforce voluntary export restraints for cheaper consumer electronics from Japan and South Korea. Those days are over for Brussels.
Winter’s international exposure expanded further during her time in Germany’s Mission to the United Nations in New York. There, she was responsible for the Economic and Social Council of the UN. Upon returning to Germany, she alternated between the Ministry for Economic Affairs and the Chancellery. Almost consistently focusing on foreign trade: WTO, OECD, IMF – the major subjects of international economic and financial policy.
In the Chancellery, Winter led the Sherpa team for the G8 and G20 meetings under Angela Merkel and the group for national and international economic policy. One of her responsibilities since 2014 was sanctions against Russia following the occupation of Crimea. In early 2022, she was to resume this task under the new Chancellor Olaf Scholz for several months.
In Brussels, one special energy ministers’ meeting followed another. Winter also sees the significant drop in gas prices as a political success. Until the European elections, the staff of the Permanent Representation still has to finalize the last laws of the legislature in the Council. However, Winter does not rule out that some dossiers may be prepared to the extent that they can be adopted by the next European Parliament in one of its first weeks of session.
After twelve years in the Chancellery, Helen Winter still appreciates a break in the summer lull, as well as life in Brussels overall – whether on the tennis court, in the kayak club or in daily business. “Brussels is diversity in action, the linguistic diversity alone is fascinating,” Winter says. Her husband was able to accompany her to Belgium; he teaches as a visiting professor of English literature at the Vrije Universiteit. The civil servant says, “We’re having our own Erasmus experience here.” Manuel Berkel
“If Greens stop defending the Green Deal, no one else will.” With this mantra, the European Green Party (EGP) in Lyon rallied for the 2024 European election campaign over the weekend. To represent them in the upcoming European elections, the 368 delegates from almost all EU countries chose experienced candidates: Terry Reintke and Bas Eickhout will be the faces of the European Greens in the European election campaign.
As the Green parliamentary group leader in the EU Parliament and the German Green lead candidate, Reintke will primarily campaign for votes in Germany, the most populous and green core country. Dutchman Eickhout, one of Brussels’ most prominent environmental politicians and former EGP lead candidate in 2019, will focus more on the international campaign.
In Lyon, it became clear once again that this campaign, unlike in 2019, will hardly consist of fresh accents. In the last European elections, climate and environmental policies were at the forefront due to societal movements like Fridays for Future, which was reflected in the Greens’ election results. Another consequence of societal pressure was Ursula von der Leyen’s Green Deal.
The pressure is now coming from different quarters. Farmers, industry, and social organizations either explicitly demand less stringent rules or warn of the social and economic consequences of further EU regulation. Support for these doubts comes mainly from Christian Democrats, who have recently attempted, partly successfully, to block Green Deal laws. Climate and especially environmental policy have lost societal acceptance, as have the Greens’ policies.
For the party that stands like no other for climate and environmental protection, the slogan for the election campaign is, therefore, to defend the Green Deal and not roll back the achievements, as the EPP would like to do, for example, with the phasing out of combustion engines. “The EPP has made the political decision to zigzag,” complains lead candidate Reintke in an interview with Table.Media. They have gone in one direction for five years and now want to take back central things and go in the other direction. “This is economic nonsense,” says Reintke.
The problem is that the Greens must make arrangements with exactly this EPP if they want to actively shape the Green Deal 2.0 because the EPP is expected to provide Ursula von der Leyen as the next Commission President. But they are ready for negotiations, Reintke emphasizes, but also set clear boundaries.
So, Greens voting for a Commission president von der Leyen this time and becoming part of the supporting majority is not ruled out – for some in the party, it is even considered the only way to save the Green Deal at all. But the support comes with a price: No cooperation with political forces to the right of the EPP – meaning with the right-wing ID or the conservative ECR.
After the election, they will look at the negotiating table to see what they can achieve and what goes against red lines. “If we don’t get anything, we won’t be part of a majority either,” Reintke clarifies. But if it goes in the right direction and they can push forward central questions, they are ready to be part of a majority.
The Greens also set conditions for agricultural policy. “If the Green Deal 2.0 does not include a plan for agriculture, then it will be problematic,” says Eickhout. He calls for a long-term vision for agriculture in line with the Farm-to-Fork strategy.
He does not see the societal mood against new agricultural regulations as contradictory to the green demands. “We must convince parts of the agricultural sector – I have no illusions that everyone will join in – but the part that wants to change must recognize that the Greens are an ally for them.”
Eickhout rejects the notion that the Christian Democrats represent the interests of farmers and complains that they only pretend that agricultural change must take place but are afraid to take action. “When von der Leyen says she is talking to farmers, she is talking to Copa Cogeca.” These are not the farmers but the chemical and fertilizer industry, says Eickhout.
The young farmers and their interest representation are not against ecologicalization. “They see that things need to change, but they have the problem that change is unpredictable.” The strategy in the campaign must be to ally with those who want things to change.
Anton Hofreiter, chairman of the European Affairs Committee in the Bundestag, also calls for putting European sovereignty at the forefront of the European election campaign. “We must run a campaign that puts Europe’s self-assertion at the center: against attacks by fascists from within and authoritarian and dictatorial regimes like Russia and China from outside.”
In their EU elections program, which was voted on in Lyon on Sunday, the Greens demand:
Amendments to the program from the federal executive of the German Greens had raised questions in the meantime and also caused outrage among green climate politicians. Instead of a climate-neutral Europe by 2040, as proposed by the EGP, the federal executive wanted to push this goal back five years. However, they were not able to push this through. The majority of the delegates in Lyon voted for the more ambitious goals.
When the Commission announces its proposal for a new climate target on Tuesday, Europe’s future will likely not be mentioned. By 2040, member states are expected to reduce 90 percent of their greenhouse gas emissions. All member states?
Ten countries in the east and southeast of the continent aim to join the EU27, and at least the Western Balkan countries have a good chance of celebrating this event in the 2030s. However, the Commission indirectly admits that it has not involved the candidate countries in the most important undertaking of its future climate policy.
A Commission official points to the public consultation conducted by the authority last year: “No position papers were received from the accession candidates.” The question of expansion was also not addressed in meetings with interest groups. However, the Commission is playing it very slim with this approach.
The Commission’s consultations usually involve citizens of the Member States, scientists, and above all, NGOs and business associations. They are not the format for government negotiations.
“The EU is turning a blind eye to the big picture despite some efforts in detail,” complains Eleonora Allena from the Climate Action Network. “It is missing the opportunity to involve the Western Balkans in setting the climate targets for 2040.” Even in a well-established format for cooperation with Eastern neighbors, the goals have not yet been negotiated.
“The Commission and the member states could have also started consulting the candidate countries within the framework of the Energy Community – as they did with the 2030 goals,” says Jörg Mühlenhoff from the Böll Foundation. Unfortunately, this step has not yet been taken.
The Energy Community is supposed to help the European Union’s neighbors adopt its energy and climate laws. All EU candidate countries are parties to the Energy Community – except for Turkey, which has observer status. The Energy Community attributes the lack of participation in the 2040 framework to the current Fit-for-55 package for 2030: “Our main focus is currently on the practical implementation of this goal.“
On paper, the contracting parties aim to reduce their emissions by 2030 even more strongly than the EU – according to the Energy Community by 60.9 percent. “However, our analysis has shown that the Western Balkan countries are far from achieving even their goals for 2030,” says Allena.
Already last June, the Climate Action Network demanded that expansion be considered in setting the climate target. The high share of fossil energy in many future EU states becomes a shared problem upon accession.
“Their strong dependence on coal-fired power plants could make it particularly difficult for Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina to reduce their emissions by 90 percent by 2040,” says Mühlenhoff. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), coal consumption is even much higher in Ukraine and especially in Turkey compared to the Western Balkans. If all ten candidate countries were to join the EU, the coal consumption of the community would increase by around 46 percent based on 2021 data.
If these countries do not align their energy supply with EU goals, they risk high costs through emissions trading upon accession. For the Commission and the EU states, this means that they must better support the candidate countries – materially and personnel-wise.
“The Moldovan authorities are already benefiting from the gradually increasing EU support in energy and climate legislation,” explains a spokesperson for the Moldovan delegation in Brussels. “However, they rely on additional technical and expert assistance from the EU for implementation.” Lea Fanku, an employee of the Albanian delegation, also sees overwhelmed government apparatuses in the Western Balkan states in a guest contribution for the European Council on Foreign Relations.
Financially, NGOs consider the usual pot for candidate countries – the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA) – insufficient. The issue must be considered in negotiations for the next Multiannual Financial Framework, says Allena. Already now, the EU could open the Just Transition Fund, the Recovery and Resilience Facility, and REPowerEU for the candidates, according to the Böll Foundation.
“It is important to act now, as there could be a backlash from national governments,” warns Mühlenhoff. “Individual candidate countries could stick to their fossil energy companies, possibly supported by energy companies from China and Russia.”
So far, however, the Commission also has its reasons why it does not expand financial assistance further. Recent commitments from the new growth plan for the Western Balkans are more dependent on progress in the rule of law than before, writes Fanku.
However, the major EU candidate countries have recently announced forward-looking steps. Turkey plans to introduce emissions trading in 2026, reports Germany Trade & Invest. At the end of January, the Ukrainian government promised a pilot phase of its certificate trading as early as 2025. Even during the war, it is possible to enable the industry to understand how this market works, said Environment Minister Ruslan Strilets.
The different positions on the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East dominated the EU-Indo-Pacific summit. Representatives of countries from the Global South accused the European Union of double standards regarding the wars in Ukraine and Gaza at the meetings. Negotiations on the wording of a joint statement with the ASEAN states were tough. The summit revealed that the EU’s plan to position itself as a counterweight to China in the Indo-Pacific region will be more difficult than perhaps expected under the current geopolitical conditions.
The joint statement released on Friday after the talks between European ministers and their counterparts from the Southeast Asian ASEAN bloc made this clear: “We agreed to condemn all attacks against civilians and we noted the call of some of us for a durable ceasefire,” reads the joint statement regarding the Gaza war. It continues: “We called for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, especially women, children, the sick and the elderly. In this context, some of us raised the importance of release from arbitrary detention.”
The statement also revealed the disagreement between the EU and ASEAN on the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine: “Most members strongly condemned the war in Ukraine (…) There were other views and different assessments of the situation and sanctions.
Several ministers from countries of the Global South made direct accusations against the European Union for its divergent policies on Ukraine and Gaza. The Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Ali Sabry formulated this very directly in front of media representatives in Brussels. He sees a “double standard when it comes to the Middle East and the plight of the Ukrainians.” “The credibility of the Western world is at stake unless you treat all of them equally,” he said.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi also urged EU ministers to exert more pressure on Israel to curb its military operations in Gaza. “No state is above the law,” Marsudi emphasized in her opening speech and appealed to European countries not to stop their support for the Palestinian refugee aid organization UNRWA and its work in Gaza. “Listen to your heart and do the right thing, to stop atrocities in Gaza, in Palestine,” she urged, emphasizing the “consistency with values and actions reflect sincerity of moral high ground … it shows who we actually are.”
Finland’s Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen rejected the accusations: “It’s not a double standard at all. We are steadfast against any targeting of civilians,” said Valtonen. “We have been condemning the Hamas attack very, very directly. But also, we do recognize that while Israel has the right to protect itself and its civilians, it also needs to do that obliging to international law and humanitarian law.” Valtonen also spoke with Marsudi about the issue on the sidelines of the event.
The EU has been struggling to find a united position on the war in Gaza since October. A growing number of EU member states are calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, while others insist on Israel’s right to retaliate and eliminate the Hamas terrorist group. There are also differing views on this within the EU Commission. EU Foreign Affairs Representative Josep Borrell warned: “Our position in the conflict in Gaza could certainly jeopardize our relations with many people in the world.”
And that could play into China’s hands. Beijing has discovered the Middle East as an important element of its geopolitical strategy. With a combination of diplomatic skill, seemingly neutral reservation and a dash of anti-Americanism, Beijing is trying to gain influence in the region. To score points with Arab and Muslim governments, China is taking a clear stance in support of the Palestinians and positioning itself as the leader of the Global South.
However, in the joint statement from the EU and ASEAN representatives, there was also agreement on issues that Beijing is unlikely to be pleased with. Regarding the South China Sea, both sides reaffirm “the importance of the respect for the rule of law, sovereignty and territorial integrity of States, maritime security and safety, freedom of navigation” and emphasize compliance with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. “Self-restraint” should be exercised in all activities in the South China Sea. The EU and ASEAN also welcomed the development of a code of conduct for the South China Sea.
“The European Union has a lot to offer. We are a transparent and reliable partner,” said Borrell at the opening of the summit. He emphasized the joint commitments to work more closely in the fight against climate change, to strengthen trade, develop technology and invest in infrastructure. Around 70 delegations traveled to the event. 20 of the EU foreign ministers attended, more than last year. According to media reports, 25 ministers from the Indo-Pacific region were present.
However, the – repeated – absence of key players was criticized: German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock sent Minister of State Tobias Lindner to Brussels. Baerbock did not attend last year. France’s new Foreign Minister, Stéphane Séjourné, was also absent from the third Indo-Pacific Ministerial Meeting. Italy’s Antonio Tajani also skipped the Indo-Pacific part and only took part in the afternoon session with the ASEAN countries. Japanese Foreign Minister Yōko Kamikawa, Australia’s Penny Wong, India’s Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and South Korea’s new Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul all skipped the meeting. Neither China nor the US were invited this year.
The CDU in North Rhine-Westphalia decided on its state list for the European elections on Saturday. The lead candidate is EU parliamentarian Peter Liese. “We are in a recession, and there is short-time work in many places. Many people are worried about their jobs and their prosperity. We must make policies for these people,” Liese said according to a statement.
The candidates ranked two through seven are:
Long-time MEP Markus Pieper was not included on the list because he has been appointed as the EU Commission’s representative for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). ber
The former conflict-torn region of Northern Ireland now has its first prime minister who would like to see the British territory united with the EU member Ireland. Michelle O’Neill of the Sinn Fein party took over as the new First Minister in Belfast on Saturday, becoming the first Catholic woman in the 103-year history of the region. Sinn Fein hailed this historic event as a step towards Irish reunification.
O’Neill must govern with the DUP, which advocates for political union with Great Britain. Emma Little-Pengelly, a close ally of DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson, was nominated for the position of Deputy First Minister.
In an interview with the British TV channel Sky News, O’Neill made it clear that she does not share the position of the British government, which sees a referendum on the unification question as decades away. Her election demonstrates that the situation on the Irish island is changing.
O’Neill’s assumption of office ended the political crisis in Northern Ireland two years after the collapse of the previous government. Sinn Fein had received the most votes for the first time in the subsequent regional election in May 2022. However, the DUP refused to cooperate and demanded an end to all customs checks between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom, which the British central government and the EU had agreed upon after Brexit.
Just a few days ago, after negotiations with London, the DUP agreed to a new document. Intra-UK controls are to be reduced to a minimum. However, experts consider this agreement symbolic. The newspaper “Belfast Telegraph” commented that the DUP had missed its goal and was selling its defeat as a victory. dpa
Usually, Berlin politicians fly to Brussels. However, for her first official appointments, Helen Winter traveled in the “official van“. “Back then, in Bonn, we used to meet at six in the morning. We would then be driven to Brussels by car and back in the evening.”
In the former capital city, the economist started as a consultant at the Ministry for Economic Affairs a few years after the reunification. Her areas of focus are education policy and European SME policy. “At that time, for example, we were debating the definition of SMEs,” Winter recalls. In 1996, the Commission actually issued a recommendation for the first time to avoid distortions of competition in the promotion of SMEs.
The topics from her early days in Bonn still occupy the 59-year-old civil servant’s mind. In August 2022, she moved from the Chancellery in Berlin to the Permanent Representation in Brussels. As Ambassador for the COREPER I, where Deputy Permanent Representatives negotiate topics ranging from agricultural policy and education to climate and competition.
Helen Winter would also be well-placed in COREPER II – the committee overseen by Ambassador Michael Clauß. Because her specialty is international trade. She wrote her doctoral thesis in Tübingen on the interdependencies between industrial policy and trade policy of the European Community. “That was at a time when the term industrial policy was not mentioned,” Winter recalls. But the catchphrases from back then bear certain similarities to today’s debates.
Anti-dumping, anti-subsidy instruments – while today Europe seeks the right approach to China, in the 1980s, Japan was the new challenger. Back then, Europe managed to enforce voluntary export restraints for cheaper consumer electronics from Japan and South Korea. Those days are over for Brussels.
Winter’s international exposure expanded further during her time in Germany’s Mission to the United Nations in New York. There, she was responsible for the Economic and Social Council of the UN. Upon returning to Germany, she alternated between the Ministry for Economic Affairs and the Chancellery. Almost consistently focusing on foreign trade: WTO, OECD, IMF – the major subjects of international economic and financial policy.
In the Chancellery, Winter led the Sherpa team for the G8 and G20 meetings under Angela Merkel and the group for national and international economic policy. One of her responsibilities since 2014 was sanctions against Russia following the occupation of Crimea. In early 2022, she was to resume this task under the new Chancellor Olaf Scholz for several months.
In Brussels, one special energy ministers’ meeting followed another. Winter also sees the significant drop in gas prices as a political success. Until the European elections, the staff of the Permanent Representation still has to finalize the last laws of the legislature in the Council. However, Winter does not rule out that some dossiers may be prepared to the extent that they can be adopted by the next European Parliament in one of its first weeks of session.
After twelve years in the Chancellery, Helen Winter still appreciates a break in the summer lull, as well as life in Brussels overall – whether on the tennis court, in the kayak club or in daily business. “Brussels is diversity in action, the linguistic diversity alone is fascinating,” Winter says. Her husband was able to accompany her to Belgium; he teaches as a visiting professor of English literature at the Vrije Universiteit. The civil servant says, “We’re having our own Erasmus experience here.” Manuel Berkel
