The Ukraine war, migration and China – foreign policy dominates the EU summit starting today. Remarkably, diplomats have already largely finalized the wording of the final declaration in advance. Not so long ago, refugee and China policy were topics that the heads of state and government could argue about for nights on end.
But most member states can live with the compromise reached by the interior ministers on the migration pact. And in dealing with Beijing, there are “different shades of opinion, but no dissent,” says a senior EU diplomat. The heads of state and government can largely rally behind the line Commission President Ursula von der Leyen set out in her speech on “de-risking.”
The elephant in the room will be the events in Russia last weekend – the Europeans continue to struggle for guidance on what the mutiny of Wagner chief Prigozhin means for Putin’s power structure. At the start of the summit, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Co will discuss this with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg over lunch, after which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will be on the line.
On Friday morning, Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron will meet for breakfast to discuss necessary reforms in the EU structure. Read more in our summit outlook of this issue.
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EU summit discusses security guarantees for Ukraine
The situation in Russia after the recent turmoil will be the “elephant in the room,” according to a diplomat ahead of the summit today and tomorrow in Brussels: “Leaders will share their assessments, some will certainly contribute information from their services.” But there is consensus, he said, that the latest development reinforces the need tosupport Ukraine – regardless of the possible scenarios.
This support is once again the focus of attention at this summit. According to EU diplomats, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s call to mobilize an additional €50 billion in financial aid for Ukraine beyond 2023 is viewed controversially. However, the debate is still at an early stage, they said. Discussions are likely to center on a section of the conclusions pushed for by France that talks about security guarantees for Ukraine. The EU and member states are ready to contribute with partners to protect Ukraine from attacks and destabilization attempts in the longer term, the draft states.
Anything the EU contributes in support will benefit the security and stability in all of Europe, a diplomat said. In the short term, more weapons for Ukraine and training for soldiers are needed, but security guarantees are also necessary in the longer term. At the start of the discussion, current and future NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenbergwill be at the table. This is also an important signal with a view to cooperation between the two organizations and the alliance’s July 11 summit in Vilnius, an EU diplomat said. The Secretary General will explain what the EU can contribute in terms of security guarantees.
Dispute over finances in the agreement with Tunisia
A difficult debate is emerging on the topic of migration, scheduled for Thursday evening. The heads of state and government want to take stock of the situation at the EU’s external borders and express their “deep regret” over the boat accident off the Greek coast that left several hundred dead, according to the draft conclusions. They also want to push forward work on the “external aspects of migration and its financial dimensions.”
But the main hook of this debate, the planned partnership agreement with Tunisia, is a long time coming – but should be ready in the next few days. The Tunisia deal was supposed to serve as a “blueprint” for cooperation with other third countries like Egypt – but it was not ready in time for the EU summit. One of the points of contention is, of all things, the “financial dimension” – namely, whether EU financial aid for Tunisia should be tied to an IMF program with strict austerity and reform conditions.
According to government circles in Berlin, such a program is “crucial,” for Germany. Italy, on the other hand, is calling for more flexibility. The government in Rome fears that overly strict conditions could lead to the government in Tunis not agreeing to more support in the fight against illegal migration. So far, Berlin and Rome have pulled together on the Tunisia deal. Now it could come to conflict at the EU summit of all places.
Controversial Rwanda model could come up for discussion
Trouble also looms with Hungary and Poland. Both EU countries reject the compromise on migration and asylum policy reached by the interior ministers at the beginning of June. Their protest is not only directed against the planned solidarity mechanism, which obliges them to accept asylum seekers or make payments. Warsaw and Budapest also claim that such far-reaching decisions can only be made unanimously – and not by a qualified majority, as in the Interior Council.
These disputes are to be addressed openly, said an EU diplomat familiar with the summit preparations. But the European Council has long been committed to a solidarity-based approach, he said. He said the risk that Hungary and Poland could block the reform of the migration and asylum pact is equal to zero.
Also to be discussed is an older proposal by eleven EU countries, including Austria. They are calling for an “innovative approach” to dealing with asylum seekers. They probably mean asylum procedures based on the controversial Rwanda model. According to a diplomat, the group around Austria has not yet specified its ideas. However, there is a consensus that models must align with international law, and this is not the case with the Rwanda model.
Von der Leyen’s China speech as a point of reference
Among other things, host Charles Michel has scheduled a debate on relations with China for Friday. The conclusions were originally intended to be brief, but in the course of preparation, they developed into a kind of bullet point list for the EU’s China policy. According to a high-ranking EU diplomat, the conclusions were closely based on the speech by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the conclusions of the recent G7 summit in Japan.
In the meantime, he said, there was a broad consensus on the course vis-à-vis Beijing. Another diplomat spoke of the end of naiveté, saying they had moved toward each other. The common denominator is greater than before Ursula von der Leyen’s speech, whose language had served as a point of reference.
The draft conclusions now state that the EU wants to reduce critical dependencies in supply chains further, but not disengage. Both sides have “a shared interest in constructive and stable relations,” he said. The leaders express concern about growing tensions over Taiwan and stress the importance of the East and South China Seas.
Scholz: partnerships instead of protectionism
EU diplomats do not expect an in-depth discussion at the summit on the recently presented economic security strategy, which also targets China. In it, the Commission had announced a new instrument to control outbound investments in third countries by the end of the year, as well as closer cooperation with member states on export controls. The approaches must now first be discussed broadly, for example, with industry and researchers, said a senior diplomat.
There are some reservations about the Commission’s initiative among the member states, which in some cases encroaches on national competencies. Last week in the Bundestag, Chancellor Olaf Scholz warned that the EU should not focus on protectionism but instead build resilient supply chains through partnerships with other countries. The German government also said investment and export control initiatives must “respect the division of competencies between the EU and member states.” Till Hoppe, Eric Bonse, Stephan Israel
On Wednesday, the Commission presented its legislative proposal for the digital euro. The Commission simultaneously presented proposals in the single currency packageto strengthen the euro as cash so that no one has to fear being unable to pay with bills and coins in the future. However, as more and more people chose to pay digitally, the euro should also offer this option, said Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis. “A digital euro would complement cash, but not replace it.”
The European Central Bank is expected to decide in October whether and when there will be a digital euro. However, the ECB needs a legal framework, a draft has now been presented by the Commission. “We are at the beginning of a long democratic process,” said Financial Services Commissioner Mairead McGuinness.
Sufficient access to cash
Euro cash is legal tender in the euro currency area. In some member states, however, some citizens now have difficulty accessing cash, for example, because ATMs are far away and bank branches are closed. The new regulation is intended to ensure that cash continues to be widely accepted throughout the euro area and that citizens have sufficient access to cash.
But if the Commission has its way, citizens should also be able to use the euro as a digital payment. In a joint article, ECB Executive Board member Fabio Panetta and Commission Vice President Dombrovskis explained, “Why Europe needs a digital euro.” It is a necessary step “to ensure that our monetary system keeps up with digital advances,” they write. “It will be widely accessible and easy to use while preserving privacy – just like cash.”
Digital euro also available offline
The Commission proposed the following features of the digital euro:
Complement existing private offerings such as cards and apps with the functions of a digital wallet.
Online and offlineavailability: Payments can be made from device to device without an Internet connection, privacy and data protection are preserved.
Banks and other payment service providers make the digital euro available throughout the EU.
Basic services with the digital euro are free of charge for private individuals.
People without a bank account can obtain the digital euro from public institutions.
Merchants throughout the euro area would be required to accept the digital euro. Exception: very small merchants not wanting digital payments.
Preserving theEU’smonetary sovereignty in the digitizing world.
Political reactions to the Commission’s proposal are mixed – even within the parliamentary groups. Stefan Berger (CDU), rapporteur for EU crypto-regulation (MiCA), demands that “the digital euro must offer what people appreciate about cash.” Only in this way will it be accepted by society. Therefore, he says, there must be sufficient privacy protection. Berger thinks the digital euro is important for Europe. “Without the digital euro, our payment flows in the digital world will not be managed European, but Chinese and American.”
A question of sovereignty
His EPP group colleague Markus Ferber (CSU) is critical of the proposal. Vague concepts such as “strategic autonomy” and “monetary sovereignty” did not convince citizens. “People want to know very concretely what can be done with the digital euro that cannot be done today.” There are already efficient payment systems in Europe today, he said. Duplicating them would achieve little.
Patrick Breyer (Pirates) called the introduction of digital cash long overdue. However, he said, the digital euro now proposed by the Commission did not deserve its name. “Digital technology is to be misused to monitor, limit and control our finances to an extent never seen with cash,” Breyer criticized. He said a possibility must be found in the legislative process, “to take the best features of cash into the digital future.”
Interestingly, the FDP-led Federal Ministry of Finance also emphasized that the digital euro must offer the same privacy protection as cash. It should also only complement cash, it said. “Under these premises, it can be an important driver for innovation, creating more security in digital payments and reducing dependencies.” Kevin Hackl, head of digital banking and financial services at digital association Bitkom, called the draft law an important step toward strengtheningEurope’s digital sovereignty.
European Commission
Events
June 29, 2023; 8:30-9:30 a.m. DGAP, DiscussionThe State of the Franco-German Relationship The German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) brings together experts and high-level guests to discuss the latest developments in geopolitics.INFO & REGISTRATION
June 30, 2023; 9 a.m.-1:30 p.m., Berlin EC, ConferenceWinning the race for talent The European Commission (EC) discusses what needs to be done to make Europe more attractive to highly qualified workers and entrepreneurs.INFO & REGISTRATION
June 30, 2023; 2-3 p.m., online FSR, SeminarUpdate on energy case law from the Court of Justice of the European Union The Florence School of Regulation (FSR) offers an overview of the most significant energy cases since the last case law update.INFO & REGISTRATION
July 3-7, 2023; Florence (Italy) FSR, SeminarSummer School on Regulation of Energy Utilities The Florence School of Regulation (FSR) addresses the regulation of distribution, transmission and generation, wholesale and retail markets, demand response and the future of power systems and regulation.INFO & REGISTRATION
July 3-7, 2023; Trier ERA, SeminarSummer Course on European Antitrust Law The Academy of European Law (ERA) provides an understanding of the basics of EU antitrust law and an update on the latest developments in each field.INFO & REGISTRATION
July 3, 2023; 5:30-7:30 p.m. Berlin/online DGAP, Panel DiscussionPragmatic Migration Cooperation: Beyond Carrots, Sticks, and Delusions The German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) discusses its report’s findings and recommendations on migration cooperation.INFO & REGISTRATION
Intel in Magdeburg: Habeck’s controversial billions
It is the largest investment ever made by the semiconductor industry in Germany. Intel’s chip factory in Magdeburg is to cost a total of €33 billion. €9.9 billion of this is to flow in the form of a subsidy. The aim of the operation from a German and European perspective: to secure essential parts of the supply chain.
Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) has “strongly supported and closely accompanied” the project, according to government sources. The project is “central to a geopolitical resilience and security strategy for Germany and Europe. For Habeck, the Intel project “offers the opportunity to develop a chip ecosystem that contributes to value creation and the creation of jobs in the surrounding area.” However, the project, which has been announced several times, is anything butin the bag – and many questions remain.
The chip ecosystem is complex: There are hundreds of participants, from the raw material to wafer production and exposure machines to the actual fabrication of the chips in clean room facilities and their further processing to their actual installation in a computer, car, industrial plant or washing machine. If even one of them in the just-in-time supply chain fails, whether for reasons such as a container ship stuck at an angle in the Suez Canal, closed ports due to a pandemic, or geopolitical reasons, the warehouses run dry.
Expert: dependence on Asia remains
Can the Intel chip factory in Magdeburg and the also announced Intel packaging plant, i.e. the next processing stage, in Wrocław, Poland, change this? How does it interact with the new or expanded Infineonplants in Dresden and Bosch at the same location and in Reutlingen?
“To believe that more plants in Germany will makeus less dependent on Asia is a fallacy,” says Jan-Peter Kleinhans, who has been researching chip supply chains and dependencies for the New Responsibility Foundation for years. The value chain for semiconductors remains transnational, he says. “The new plants in Dresden and Magdeburg will continue to rely on chemicals from Japan and Taiwanandon machines from the US and Japan,” Kleinhans says.
Sven Baumann from the German Electrical and Digital Manufacturers’ Association (ZVEI) basically shares the perspective that dependencies will continue to exist in the future. Here, targeted cooperationshould be sought. The goal, however, is clear: “Europe must expand its capabilities in all stages of the value chain in the manufacture of chips,” says Baumann. Otherwise, the knowledge of microelectronics manufacturing would be lost.
Chip of the day after tomorrow meets car design of today
But whether the planned lighthouse project Intel plant is the golden key to this remains controversial. The word from automotive industry circles is that the generation of chips envisioned in Magdeburgwill not play a role for them for the foreseeable future. The automotive industry – except Tesla – currently uses semiconductors with a maximum structure size of 80 nanometers, considered new 15 years ago. This increases availability and depresses the unit price.
In addition, there is long-term planning in the automotive sector. If the current pace continues, chip generations that are currently installed in PCs will play a crucial role in cars in 2035. Intel, however, has announced that the next but one generation of chips will be manufactured in Magdeburg from 2027. The 20-angstrom chips are cutting-edge technology instead of mass-produced goods.
Jan-Peter Kleinhans of the Stiftung Neue Verantwortung (New Responsibility Foundation), however, has even greater doubts about the economic sense of Magdeburg’s major investment: “When it comes to the security of supply, it’s better to look at the supply chain management of the customer industries, i.e. automotive and industrial equipment manufacturers.” Their just-in-time warehousing, which is often only sufficient for a few days, and their dependence on individual manufacturing countries have often come under criticism in the wake of the chip crisis.
Financing by carbon pricing
Sven Baumann from the German Electrical and Digital Manufacturers’ Association (ZVEI) also sees the resilience of value chains as important. However, he takes a different view of current investments: “Europe is particularly strong in the customer markets of automotive and EVs as well as industrial electronics, and has great expertise in power semiconductors, microelectronics and sensor technology. Chips in all structure sizesare needed for these markets.” And to achieve technological sovereignty, he said, Europe “will need to dominate microelectronics manufacturing in the coming decades.” He thus sees investments in resilient value chains as positive.
Financing remains a major stumbling block in the Intel investment. Neither the Community Project for Microelectronics (IPCEI2) nor general subsidy pots can or should be used for the subsidies in the current federal budget situation. But where can the money come from?
Habeck’s trick: A state-of-the-art chip factory that runs on green electricity and saves water could be seen as a contribution to the transformation. After all, Section 2a of the Climate and Transformation Fund Act, fed by revenue from carbon pricing, explicitly provides for the promotion of investments in new production facilities in industries with emission-intensive processes via climate protection contracts. It is no coincidence that BMWK published a draft for precisely these climate protection contract modalities only shortly before Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger’s visit to Berlin.
Climate protection agreement as a prerequisite
Under 2.17, it is stated that a “transformative production process” involves fundamental technological changes. Admittedly, this is the paragraph for the steel, chemical and other energy-intensive companies that already produce in Germany. But Habeck apparently wants to apply it to Intel’s production as well.
The Magdeburg-Eulenberg site offers good opportunities for this, as it is located in the immediate vicinity of the Südostlink direct current line, which is to transport wind power from the north to Bavaria. The Intel subsidies could therefore be justified by purchasing green electricity from the company’s own additional plants. So BMWK has a strong tailwind for the project.
Chips Act must be in force at the start of the project
Whether the wind will once again blow strongly in the project’s face, however, will ultimately be decided by European state aid law and its guardians in Brussels. Intel had lobbied intensively for a favorable state aid framework. “The German government intends to promote the establishment of Intel in Magdeburg within the framework of the European Chips Act,” confirmed a spokeswoman for the Federal Ministry of Economics. “The prerequisite for this is approval under state aid law by the European Commission. This conclusively determines the type and amount of the subsidy.” But the Chips Act has still not been decided and announced despite an agreement in the trilogue. The European Parliament now wants to pass it in July.
The high level of subsidies for Intel in Germany has triggered considerable debate in the EU Commission. But no chip factory would come without subsidies. Because the competition for manufacturers and their investments is international. Whether Korea, Japan, the USA, China or Taiwan: All have realized that semiconductors are relevant.
A small announcement from Japan shows how crucial the ecosystem as a whole is considered to be: The investment fund JIC, which is partly state-owned and partly supported by the largest Japanese groups, is buying into the specialty materials manufacturer JSR for US$6.3 billion. The aim of the operation: To ensure the independence of Japanese industry as far as possible and to strengthen the country’s own semiconductor industry. The race for resilient chip supply chains is also taking place between the players in the Western bloc.
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Data Act: mixed reactions to the agreement
Just how fiercely controversial the Data Act was, can be seen in the reactions to the compromise agreed by Parliament and the Council in the trilogue. Companies fear that their trade secrets will be at risk if they have to share data generated by machines.
With the Data Act, the Commission wants to boost the data economy in the EU. It aims to unlock industrial data, optimize its accessibility and use, and promote a competitive and reliable European cloud market.
Criticism from VDMA and BDI
The machinery and plant manufacturers see things differently. The results of the trilogue are not good news, said VDMA Executive Director Hartmut Rauen. The Data Act represents a massive interference with the previously well-functioning freedom of contract in the data exchange between companies. This creates uncertainty because the effects on data-based business models are still unclear, criticized Rauen, speaking of a digital policy experiment with an unclear outcome.
The BDI commented the Data Act fails to achieve its goal of creating legal certainty and a positive innovation environment in the EU. “The numerous legal interventions of the EU Data Act hinder industry in dealing with data.”
Bitkom also sees the danger of trade secrets falling into the wrong hands. In contrast, the digital association sees the regulations under which companies can change their cloud provider as positive. Bitkom supports the goalof making cloud switching easier, said new Bitkom President Ralf Wintergerst. Cloud providers would not have to achieve anything technically impossible in the process.
The lobbying battle is decided
The Data Act breaks the manufacturer’s data monopolies and also gives users control over their data, emphasized TiemoWölken, legal policy spokesman for the European Social Democratic Party. He said it was regrettable that the corporate lobby, in the last few meters, had still managed to get its way with exceptions when trade secrets could be affected. “This is a potentially dangerous loophole that could allow dominant companies to escape their data-sharing obligations,” Wölken said.
“The Data Act was a lobbying battle,” summed up Volt MEP Damian Boeselager, who was involved in the deliberations as shadow rapporteur for the Greens/EFA. The positions were also far apart within the industry, for example, between airlines and aircraft manufacturers. In the end, the manufacturers, although outnumbered, prevailed by imposing severe restrictions on users’ right to access data. Boeselager sees this as a barrier to market entry for more innovative competitors. “In the long run, we in Europe are shooting ourselves in the foot with such anti-competitive rules.”
The political agreement still needs to be formally confirmed by the Council of Member States and in the plenary of the European Parliament for the law to be considered passed. That could happen in November or December. vis
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EU wants to more closely link climate and security policy
The EU wants to link climate change and security more closely in its future foreign policy strategy. To this end, it announced an action plan comprising around 30 measures on Wednesday. After all, the consequences of climate change, such as the loss of livelihoods due to droughts or floods, growing migration patterns, health risks or the increasing competition for resources, have a considerable impact on the security of people and nature.
Planned measures include:
Establishment of a data and analysis platform for climate and environmental security within the EU satellite center.
Deployment of environmental advisors in missions and operations under the EU’s Common Security and Defense Policy (CSDP).
Establishment of training platforms in member states and at the EU level, for example, an EU training platform for climate, security and defense
Analyses and studies of policies and measures, particularly in vulnerable geographic areas such as the Sahel or the Arctic.
Conflict prevention and support for good governance in vulnerable countries
Climate requirements for the military
In addition to security considerations related to climate change, the Commission also wants to revise the operationalization of military operations. Emissions generated by the armed forces of EU states are currently hardly subject to strict reduction requirements. Often, military institutions do not record emissions at all.
The EU Commission wants to change that and announced to “enhance the climate adaptation and mitigation measures of Member States’ security and defense forces in their operations and infrastructure” to reduce costs and the CO2 footprint. However, the military’s ability to function is to be maintained.
In early June, the EU Commission’s in-house research center (JRC) published recommendations to minimize the impact of climate change on defense-related critical energy infrastructure. It also called for new guidance on assessing climate risks in defense, incorporating climate considerations into military planning, and modernizing military infrastructure. The Commission now took this up. It also plans to work towards bringing activities such as in NATO in line with European climate and environmental policy.
Geoengineering: No alternative for carbon reduction
These measures also include critically evaluating new technologies and methods to tackle climate change and their security implications. Artificial alteration of solar radiation through geoengineering plays a particularly important role. For example, sunlight can be directed back into the atmosphere with gigantic mirrors or global warming in the stratosphere can be reduced by injecting aerosols.
Although researchers from the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) recognize such methods as the “only option that could cool the planet within years,” they also point to the dangers of the technology. Among them are possible ozone layer destruction, local overcompensation for climate change, and risks to people and ecosystems.
The Commission wants to assess these methods and their risks at an early stage, regulate them and introduce the results into international climate debates. To this end, the aspects must be better researched, says the Brussels authority. Current rules, procedures and institutions for this are lacking.
Commission Vice-President and Green Deal Commissioner Frans Timmermanns also made clear that geoengineering should not distract from the need to reduce emissions. The only way to stop global warming and mitigate the effects of climate change is to bring emissions to zero, the Commission said. luk
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CRMA in the Council: final spurt for negotiating mandate
The Swedish Council Presidency has prepared a final compromise proposal for the negotiating mandate on the Critical Raw Materials Act, which will be considered by the ambassadors of the EU member states (Coreper I) tomorrow, Friday. It is possible that they will already agree on a mandate then. The proposal, first published by the news portal “Contexte,” includes the following changes to the Commission’s draft law:
Two additional subgroups are to be established in the future European Critical Raw Materials Board: a subgroup on circularity to “discuss and exchange views on measures to promote circularity, resource efficiency and substitution of critical raw materials” and a subgroup on public acceptance.
The list of critical and strategic raw materials should not be updated by the Commission every four years but at least every three years to reflect rapid technological and economic development.
Aluminum, bauxite and alumina are to be added to both lists.
The benchmarks for downstream processing (previously 40 percent) and recycling (15 percent) are to be increased to 50 percent and 20 percent respectively.
The Commission is to report on indicative benchmarks for each strategic commodity in 2030.
The one-stop store for the approval procedures for raw materials projects is to be transformed into a single point of contact so that the member states can appoint other competent authorities for the procedures in addition.
The Industry Committee in the EU Parliament will discuss the amendments to the bill on July 18. The vote in Committee is currently scheduled for September 7; the plenary will then vote in October. leo
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RED III: ITRE confirms nuclear compromise
On Wednesday, the Parliament’s Industry Committee approved the EU states’ latest compromise on the Renewable Energy Directive (RED III). The vote in the plenum is to follow in September.
There had already been an agreement on RED III in the trilogue in March, which, however, was later called into question by the French government because of the role of nuclear energy. The compromise from COREPER on June 16 allows France to use more nuclear power for the production of hydrogen. Paris received a commitment from the Commission that individual ammoniaplants could be exempted when calculating the industry’s green hydrogen sub-target, Sven Giegold, State Secretary at Germany’s Economics Ministry, said at the time.
Exemption for hydrogen from nuclear power for France
Actually, RED III introduces a target for the use of hydrogen from renewable energies of non-biogenic origin in industry. However, the French government had sought a broader crediting of hydrogen from nuclear energy towards the directive’s renewables targets.
Technically, the regulation for ammonia plants is implemented by the new recital 22ab, which ITRE agreed to yesterday. “The new Renewable Energies Directive shows that pragmatic, innovative, non-bureaucratic and technology-open legislation is possible in Europe,” said rapporteur Markus Pieper (CDU), commenting on the result. ber
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New EU Commissioner for Research and Education
Iliana Ivanova from Bulgaria is to become the new EU Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Education. This was announced yesterday by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The previous commissioner, Mariya Gabriel, had resigned from her post to become part of the new governing coalition in Bulgaria.
Ivanova has been a member of the European Court of Auditors since 2013. Before that, she was a member of the European Parliament in the EPP Group from 2009 to 2012 and Vice Chair of the Budgetary Control Committee.
Ivanova’s experience is of “crucial importance” in implementing the HorizonEurope research program, von der Leyen said. The goal, she said, is to improve the performance of EU research spending and achieve a better impact on the ground. The Council and Parliament still have to approve the personnel appointment. sas
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Johanna Hans: liberal ideas for Europe
Johanna Hans is Head of Unit Europe at the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom.
It was an internship in Washington, at the foreign office of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation (FNS), that led Johanna Hans to her current employer. “I was always interested in the question of European relations with these countries during the foreign stations,” she recounts in conversation. From 2016, she was a European Dialogue Officer, and for the past year, the 33-year-old has been Head of Unit Europe at the FNS. Two staff members work to support her.
“Exciting about my work is that I don’t have a classic daily routine.” As Head of Unit Europe, she coordinates the work of eleven European offices abroad. “In short, we do political education work and we network people, especially from civil society, with political decision-makers.” Among other things, she organizes regular rounds with about 20 experts, who can discuss European issues under the rules of confidentiality of the Chatham House Rules.
‘Laboratory’ for the FDP
In addition, she shows the work of the foreign offices in Germany. She is currently planning a cinema tour for a documentary on migration that the office shot in Madrid. Most recently, she was in Timișoara in Romania, the current European Capital of Culture. There she met with representatives of the Eastern and Southeastern European country offices. Hans also oversees the Alliance of Her Academy, which the FNS offers in cooperation with the ALDE party and the think tank European Liberal Forum for liberal women in politics.
The political foundation has a distancing mandate from the FDP. Hans sees the FNS as a “laboratory for the party.” Recommendations for action on security policy, however, once even made it into an election program of the Austrian Liberals, Hans reports.
Last year and this year, the entire FNS put itself under the motto “ReshapeEurope.” All offices in over 60 countries and in Germany work on important European issues. “We are driven by the question of how the EU can become a truly global player that can make a difference in the geopolitical mix.”
‘EU must become more capable of action’
So far, the EU is still too weak, she said. “In 2012, the EU won the Nobel Peace Prize. With that comes responsibility, and that’s why the EU must become more capable of acting.” To do that, she said, it must first clean up its internal affairs. “The EU must assert its values more firmly, and it must do so vis-à-vis all member states,” Hans says. But the Union must also become more present and more capable of acting externally. To achieve this, she says, the principle of unanimity on foreign policy issues must be dropped, among other things. A demand that not only liberals have been making for years.
Hans studied political science at Freie Universität Berlin and completed her master’s degree in international relations and international law at the University of Kent in the United Kingdom. In between, she spent time in California and Costa Rica and did an internship with a CDU member of the European Parliament.
She grew up in Recklinghausen in the Ruhr region. Her father had a big influence on her politicization. “He put the newspaper in my hand at an early age and discussed it with me,” Hans says. “Most of the time we disagreed, but I always enjoyed the exchange.” Now she’s turned that into a career, so to speak. Tom Schmidtgen
The Ukraine war, migration and China – foreign policy dominates the EU summit starting today. Remarkably, diplomats have already largely finalized the wording of the final declaration in advance. Not so long ago, refugee and China policy were topics that the heads of state and government could argue about for nights on end.
But most member states can live with the compromise reached by the interior ministers on the migration pact. And in dealing with Beijing, there are “different shades of opinion, but no dissent,” says a senior EU diplomat. The heads of state and government can largely rally behind the line Commission President Ursula von der Leyen set out in her speech on “de-risking.”
The elephant in the room will be the events in Russia last weekend – the Europeans continue to struggle for guidance on what the mutiny of Wagner chief Prigozhin means for Putin’s power structure. At the start of the summit, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Co will discuss this with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg over lunch, after which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will be on the line.
On Friday morning, Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron will meet for breakfast to discuss necessary reforms in the EU structure. Read more in our summit outlook of this issue.
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Feature
EU summit discusses security guarantees for Ukraine
The situation in Russia after the recent turmoil will be the “elephant in the room,” according to a diplomat ahead of the summit today and tomorrow in Brussels: “Leaders will share their assessments, some will certainly contribute information from their services.” But there is consensus, he said, that the latest development reinforces the need tosupport Ukraine – regardless of the possible scenarios.
This support is once again the focus of attention at this summit. According to EU diplomats, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s call to mobilize an additional €50 billion in financial aid for Ukraine beyond 2023 is viewed controversially. However, the debate is still at an early stage, they said. Discussions are likely to center on a section of the conclusions pushed for by France that talks about security guarantees for Ukraine. The EU and member states are ready to contribute with partners to protect Ukraine from attacks and destabilization attempts in the longer term, the draft states.
Anything the EU contributes in support will benefit the security and stability in all of Europe, a diplomat said. In the short term, more weapons for Ukraine and training for soldiers are needed, but security guarantees are also necessary in the longer term. At the start of the discussion, current and future NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenbergwill be at the table. This is also an important signal with a view to cooperation between the two organizations and the alliance’s July 11 summit in Vilnius, an EU diplomat said. The Secretary General will explain what the EU can contribute in terms of security guarantees.
Dispute over finances in the agreement with Tunisia
A difficult debate is emerging on the topic of migration, scheduled for Thursday evening. The heads of state and government want to take stock of the situation at the EU’s external borders and express their “deep regret” over the boat accident off the Greek coast that left several hundred dead, according to the draft conclusions. They also want to push forward work on the “external aspects of migration and its financial dimensions.”
But the main hook of this debate, the planned partnership agreement with Tunisia, is a long time coming – but should be ready in the next few days. The Tunisia deal was supposed to serve as a “blueprint” for cooperation with other third countries like Egypt – but it was not ready in time for the EU summit. One of the points of contention is, of all things, the “financial dimension” – namely, whether EU financial aid for Tunisia should be tied to an IMF program with strict austerity and reform conditions.
According to government circles in Berlin, such a program is “crucial,” for Germany. Italy, on the other hand, is calling for more flexibility. The government in Rome fears that overly strict conditions could lead to the government in Tunis not agreeing to more support in the fight against illegal migration. So far, Berlin and Rome have pulled together on the Tunisia deal. Now it could come to conflict at the EU summit of all places.
Controversial Rwanda model could come up for discussion
Trouble also looms with Hungary and Poland. Both EU countries reject the compromise on migration and asylum policy reached by the interior ministers at the beginning of June. Their protest is not only directed against the planned solidarity mechanism, which obliges them to accept asylum seekers or make payments. Warsaw and Budapest also claim that such far-reaching decisions can only be made unanimously – and not by a qualified majority, as in the Interior Council.
These disputes are to be addressed openly, said an EU diplomat familiar with the summit preparations. But the European Council has long been committed to a solidarity-based approach, he said. He said the risk that Hungary and Poland could block the reform of the migration and asylum pact is equal to zero.
Also to be discussed is an older proposal by eleven EU countries, including Austria. They are calling for an “innovative approach” to dealing with asylum seekers. They probably mean asylum procedures based on the controversial Rwanda model. According to a diplomat, the group around Austria has not yet specified its ideas. However, there is a consensus that models must align with international law, and this is not the case with the Rwanda model.
Von der Leyen’s China speech as a point of reference
Among other things, host Charles Michel has scheduled a debate on relations with China for Friday. The conclusions were originally intended to be brief, but in the course of preparation, they developed into a kind of bullet point list for the EU’s China policy. According to a high-ranking EU diplomat, the conclusions were closely based on the speech by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the conclusions of the recent G7 summit in Japan.
In the meantime, he said, there was a broad consensus on the course vis-à-vis Beijing. Another diplomat spoke of the end of naiveté, saying they had moved toward each other. The common denominator is greater than before Ursula von der Leyen’s speech, whose language had served as a point of reference.
The draft conclusions now state that the EU wants to reduce critical dependencies in supply chains further, but not disengage. Both sides have “a shared interest in constructive and stable relations,” he said. The leaders express concern about growing tensions over Taiwan and stress the importance of the East and South China Seas.
Scholz: partnerships instead of protectionism
EU diplomats do not expect an in-depth discussion at the summit on the recently presented economic security strategy, which also targets China. In it, the Commission had announced a new instrument to control outbound investments in third countries by the end of the year, as well as closer cooperation with member states on export controls. The approaches must now first be discussed broadly, for example, with industry and researchers, said a senior diplomat.
There are some reservations about the Commission’s initiative among the member states, which in some cases encroaches on national competencies. Last week in the Bundestag, Chancellor Olaf Scholz warned that the EU should not focus on protectionism but instead build resilient supply chains through partnerships with other countries. The German government also said investment and export control initiatives must “respect the division of competencies between the EU and member states.” Till Hoppe, Eric Bonse, Stephan Israel
On Wednesday, the Commission presented its legislative proposal for the digital euro. The Commission simultaneously presented proposals in the single currency packageto strengthen the euro as cash so that no one has to fear being unable to pay with bills and coins in the future. However, as more and more people chose to pay digitally, the euro should also offer this option, said Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis. “A digital euro would complement cash, but not replace it.”
The European Central Bank is expected to decide in October whether and when there will be a digital euro. However, the ECB needs a legal framework, a draft has now been presented by the Commission. “We are at the beginning of a long democratic process,” said Financial Services Commissioner Mairead McGuinness.
Sufficient access to cash
Euro cash is legal tender in the euro currency area. In some member states, however, some citizens now have difficulty accessing cash, for example, because ATMs are far away and bank branches are closed. The new regulation is intended to ensure that cash continues to be widely accepted throughout the euro area and that citizens have sufficient access to cash.
But if the Commission has its way, citizens should also be able to use the euro as a digital payment. In a joint article, ECB Executive Board member Fabio Panetta and Commission Vice President Dombrovskis explained, “Why Europe needs a digital euro.” It is a necessary step “to ensure that our monetary system keeps up with digital advances,” they write. “It will be widely accessible and easy to use while preserving privacy – just like cash.”
Digital euro also available offline
The Commission proposed the following features of the digital euro:
Complement existing private offerings such as cards and apps with the functions of a digital wallet.
Online and offlineavailability: Payments can be made from device to device without an Internet connection, privacy and data protection are preserved.
Banks and other payment service providers make the digital euro available throughout the EU.
Basic services with the digital euro are free of charge for private individuals.
People without a bank account can obtain the digital euro from public institutions.
Merchants throughout the euro area would be required to accept the digital euro. Exception: very small merchants not wanting digital payments.
Preserving theEU’smonetary sovereignty in the digitizing world.
Political reactions to the Commission’s proposal are mixed – even within the parliamentary groups. Stefan Berger (CDU), rapporteur for EU crypto-regulation (MiCA), demands that “the digital euro must offer what people appreciate about cash.” Only in this way will it be accepted by society. Therefore, he says, there must be sufficient privacy protection. Berger thinks the digital euro is important for Europe. “Without the digital euro, our payment flows in the digital world will not be managed European, but Chinese and American.”
A question of sovereignty
His EPP group colleague Markus Ferber (CSU) is critical of the proposal. Vague concepts such as “strategic autonomy” and “monetary sovereignty” did not convince citizens. “People want to know very concretely what can be done with the digital euro that cannot be done today.” There are already efficient payment systems in Europe today, he said. Duplicating them would achieve little.
Patrick Breyer (Pirates) called the introduction of digital cash long overdue. However, he said, the digital euro now proposed by the Commission did not deserve its name. “Digital technology is to be misused to monitor, limit and control our finances to an extent never seen with cash,” Breyer criticized. He said a possibility must be found in the legislative process, “to take the best features of cash into the digital future.”
Interestingly, the FDP-led Federal Ministry of Finance also emphasized that the digital euro must offer the same privacy protection as cash. It should also only complement cash, it said. “Under these premises, it can be an important driver for innovation, creating more security in digital payments and reducing dependencies.” Kevin Hackl, head of digital banking and financial services at digital association Bitkom, called the draft law an important step toward strengtheningEurope’s digital sovereignty.
European Commission
Events
June 29, 2023; 8:30-9:30 a.m. DGAP, DiscussionThe State of the Franco-German Relationship The German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) brings together experts and high-level guests to discuss the latest developments in geopolitics.INFO & REGISTRATION
June 30, 2023; 9 a.m.-1:30 p.m., Berlin EC, ConferenceWinning the race for talent The European Commission (EC) discusses what needs to be done to make Europe more attractive to highly qualified workers and entrepreneurs.INFO & REGISTRATION
June 30, 2023; 2-3 p.m., online FSR, SeminarUpdate on energy case law from the Court of Justice of the European Union The Florence School of Regulation (FSR) offers an overview of the most significant energy cases since the last case law update.INFO & REGISTRATION
July 3-7, 2023; Florence (Italy) FSR, SeminarSummer School on Regulation of Energy Utilities The Florence School of Regulation (FSR) addresses the regulation of distribution, transmission and generation, wholesale and retail markets, demand response and the future of power systems and regulation.INFO & REGISTRATION
July 3-7, 2023; Trier ERA, SeminarSummer Course on European Antitrust Law The Academy of European Law (ERA) provides an understanding of the basics of EU antitrust law and an update on the latest developments in each field.INFO & REGISTRATION
July 3, 2023; 5:30-7:30 p.m. Berlin/online DGAP, Panel DiscussionPragmatic Migration Cooperation: Beyond Carrots, Sticks, and Delusions The German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) discusses its report’s findings and recommendations on migration cooperation.INFO & REGISTRATION
Intel in Magdeburg: Habeck’s controversial billions
It is the largest investment ever made by the semiconductor industry in Germany. Intel’s chip factory in Magdeburg is to cost a total of €33 billion. €9.9 billion of this is to flow in the form of a subsidy. The aim of the operation from a German and European perspective: to secure essential parts of the supply chain.
Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) has “strongly supported and closely accompanied” the project, according to government sources. The project is “central to a geopolitical resilience and security strategy for Germany and Europe. For Habeck, the Intel project “offers the opportunity to develop a chip ecosystem that contributes to value creation and the creation of jobs in the surrounding area.” However, the project, which has been announced several times, is anything butin the bag – and many questions remain.
The chip ecosystem is complex: There are hundreds of participants, from the raw material to wafer production and exposure machines to the actual fabrication of the chips in clean room facilities and their further processing to their actual installation in a computer, car, industrial plant or washing machine. If even one of them in the just-in-time supply chain fails, whether for reasons such as a container ship stuck at an angle in the Suez Canal, closed ports due to a pandemic, or geopolitical reasons, the warehouses run dry.
Expert: dependence on Asia remains
Can the Intel chip factory in Magdeburg and the also announced Intel packaging plant, i.e. the next processing stage, in Wrocław, Poland, change this? How does it interact with the new or expanded Infineonplants in Dresden and Bosch at the same location and in Reutlingen?
“To believe that more plants in Germany will makeus less dependent on Asia is a fallacy,” says Jan-Peter Kleinhans, who has been researching chip supply chains and dependencies for the New Responsibility Foundation for years. The value chain for semiconductors remains transnational, he says. “The new plants in Dresden and Magdeburg will continue to rely on chemicals from Japan and Taiwanandon machines from the US and Japan,” Kleinhans says.
Sven Baumann from the German Electrical and Digital Manufacturers’ Association (ZVEI) basically shares the perspective that dependencies will continue to exist in the future. Here, targeted cooperationshould be sought. The goal, however, is clear: “Europe must expand its capabilities in all stages of the value chain in the manufacture of chips,” says Baumann. Otherwise, the knowledge of microelectronics manufacturing would be lost.
Chip of the day after tomorrow meets car design of today
But whether the planned lighthouse project Intel plant is the golden key to this remains controversial. The word from automotive industry circles is that the generation of chips envisioned in Magdeburgwill not play a role for them for the foreseeable future. The automotive industry – except Tesla – currently uses semiconductors with a maximum structure size of 80 nanometers, considered new 15 years ago. This increases availability and depresses the unit price.
In addition, there is long-term planning in the automotive sector. If the current pace continues, chip generations that are currently installed in PCs will play a crucial role in cars in 2035. Intel, however, has announced that the next but one generation of chips will be manufactured in Magdeburg from 2027. The 20-angstrom chips are cutting-edge technology instead of mass-produced goods.
Jan-Peter Kleinhans of the Stiftung Neue Verantwortung (New Responsibility Foundation), however, has even greater doubts about the economic sense of Magdeburg’s major investment: “When it comes to the security of supply, it’s better to look at the supply chain management of the customer industries, i.e. automotive and industrial equipment manufacturers.” Their just-in-time warehousing, which is often only sufficient for a few days, and their dependence on individual manufacturing countries have often come under criticism in the wake of the chip crisis.
Financing by carbon pricing
Sven Baumann from the German Electrical and Digital Manufacturers’ Association (ZVEI) also sees the resilience of value chains as important. However, he takes a different view of current investments: “Europe is particularly strong in the customer markets of automotive and EVs as well as industrial electronics, and has great expertise in power semiconductors, microelectronics and sensor technology. Chips in all structure sizesare needed for these markets.” And to achieve technological sovereignty, he said, Europe “will need to dominate microelectronics manufacturing in the coming decades.” He thus sees investments in resilient value chains as positive.
Financing remains a major stumbling block in the Intel investment. Neither the Community Project for Microelectronics (IPCEI2) nor general subsidy pots can or should be used for the subsidies in the current federal budget situation. But where can the money come from?
Habeck’s trick: A state-of-the-art chip factory that runs on green electricity and saves water could be seen as a contribution to the transformation. After all, Section 2a of the Climate and Transformation Fund Act, fed by revenue from carbon pricing, explicitly provides for the promotion of investments in new production facilities in industries with emission-intensive processes via climate protection contracts. It is no coincidence that BMWK published a draft for precisely these climate protection contract modalities only shortly before Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger’s visit to Berlin.
Climate protection agreement as a prerequisite
Under 2.17, it is stated that a “transformative production process” involves fundamental technological changes. Admittedly, this is the paragraph for the steel, chemical and other energy-intensive companies that already produce in Germany. But Habeck apparently wants to apply it to Intel’s production as well.
The Magdeburg-Eulenberg site offers good opportunities for this, as it is located in the immediate vicinity of the Südostlink direct current line, which is to transport wind power from the north to Bavaria. The Intel subsidies could therefore be justified by purchasing green electricity from the company’s own additional plants. So BMWK has a strong tailwind for the project.
Chips Act must be in force at the start of the project
Whether the wind will once again blow strongly in the project’s face, however, will ultimately be decided by European state aid law and its guardians in Brussels. Intel had lobbied intensively for a favorable state aid framework. “The German government intends to promote the establishment of Intel in Magdeburg within the framework of the European Chips Act,” confirmed a spokeswoman for the Federal Ministry of Economics. “The prerequisite for this is approval under state aid law by the European Commission. This conclusively determines the type and amount of the subsidy.” But the Chips Act has still not been decided and announced despite an agreement in the trilogue. The European Parliament now wants to pass it in July.
The high level of subsidies for Intel in Germany has triggered considerable debate in the EU Commission. But no chip factory would come without subsidies. Because the competition for manufacturers and their investments is international. Whether Korea, Japan, the USA, China or Taiwan: All have realized that semiconductors are relevant.
A small announcement from Japan shows how crucial the ecosystem as a whole is considered to be: The investment fund JIC, which is partly state-owned and partly supported by the largest Japanese groups, is buying into the specialty materials manufacturer JSR for US$6.3 billion. The aim of the operation: To ensure the independence of Japanese industry as far as possible and to strengthen the country’s own semiconductor industry. The race for resilient chip supply chains is also taking place between the players in the Western bloc.
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Data Act: mixed reactions to the agreement
Just how fiercely controversial the Data Act was, can be seen in the reactions to the compromise agreed by Parliament and the Council in the trilogue. Companies fear that their trade secrets will be at risk if they have to share data generated by machines.
With the Data Act, the Commission wants to boost the data economy in the EU. It aims to unlock industrial data, optimize its accessibility and use, and promote a competitive and reliable European cloud market.
Criticism from VDMA and BDI
The machinery and plant manufacturers see things differently. The results of the trilogue are not good news, said VDMA Executive Director Hartmut Rauen. The Data Act represents a massive interference with the previously well-functioning freedom of contract in the data exchange between companies. This creates uncertainty because the effects on data-based business models are still unclear, criticized Rauen, speaking of a digital policy experiment with an unclear outcome.
The BDI commented the Data Act fails to achieve its goal of creating legal certainty and a positive innovation environment in the EU. “The numerous legal interventions of the EU Data Act hinder industry in dealing with data.”
Bitkom also sees the danger of trade secrets falling into the wrong hands. In contrast, the digital association sees the regulations under which companies can change their cloud provider as positive. Bitkom supports the goalof making cloud switching easier, said new Bitkom President Ralf Wintergerst. Cloud providers would not have to achieve anything technically impossible in the process.
The lobbying battle is decided
The Data Act breaks the manufacturer’s data monopolies and also gives users control over their data, emphasized TiemoWölken, legal policy spokesman for the European Social Democratic Party. He said it was regrettable that the corporate lobby, in the last few meters, had still managed to get its way with exceptions when trade secrets could be affected. “This is a potentially dangerous loophole that could allow dominant companies to escape their data-sharing obligations,” Wölken said.
“The Data Act was a lobbying battle,” summed up Volt MEP Damian Boeselager, who was involved in the deliberations as shadow rapporteur for the Greens/EFA. The positions were also far apart within the industry, for example, between airlines and aircraft manufacturers. In the end, the manufacturers, although outnumbered, prevailed by imposing severe restrictions on users’ right to access data. Boeselager sees this as a barrier to market entry for more innovative competitors. “In the long run, we in Europe are shooting ourselves in the foot with such anti-competitive rules.”
The political agreement still needs to be formally confirmed by the Council of Member States and in the plenary of the European Parliament for the law to be considered passed. That could happen in November or December. vis
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EU wants to more closely link climate and security policy
The EU wants to link climate change and security more closely in its future foreign policy strategy. To this end, it announced an action plan comprising around 30 measures on Wednesday. After all, the consequences of climate change, such as the loss of livelihoods due to droughts or floods, growing migration patterns, health risks or the increasing competition for resources, have a considerable impact on the security of people and nature.
Planned measures include:
Establishment of a data and analysis platform for climate and environmental security within the EU satellite center.
Deployment of environmental advisors in missions and operations under the EU’s Common Security and Defense Policy (CSDP).
Establishment of training platforms in member states and at the EU level, for example, an EU training platform for climate, security and defense
Analyses and studies of policies and measures, particularly in vulnerable geographic areas such as the Sahel or the Arctic.
Conflict prevention and support for good governance in vulnerable countries
Climate requirements for the military
In addition to security considerations related to climate change, the Commission also wants to revise the operationalization of military operations. Emissions generated by the armed forces of EU states are currently hardly subject to strict reduction requirements. Often, military institutions do not record emissions at all.
The EU Commission wants to change that and announced to “enhance the climate adaptation and mitigation measures of Member States’ security and defense forces in their operations and infrastructure” to reduce costs and the CO2 footprint. However, the military’s ability to function is to be maintained.
In early June, the EU Commission’s in-house research center (JRC) published recommendations to minimize the impact of climate change on defense-related critical energy infrastructure. It also called for new guidance on assessing climate risks in defense, incorporating climate considerations into military planning, and modernizing military infrastructure. The Commission now took this up. It also plans to work towards bringing activities such as in NATO in line with European climate and environmental policy.
Geoengineering: No alternative for carbon reduction
These measures also include critically evaluating new technologies and methods to tackle climate change and their security implications. Artificial alteration of solar radiation through geoengineering plays a particularly important role. For example, sunlight can be directed back into the atmosphere with gigantic mirrors or global warming in the stratosphere can be reduced by injecting aerosols.
Although researchers from the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) recognize such methods as the “only option that could cool the planet within years,” they also point to the dangers of the technology. Among them are possible ozone layer destruction, local overcompensation for climate change, and risks to people and ecosystems.
The Commission wants to assess these methods and their risks at an early stage, regulate them and introduce the results into international climate debates. To this end, the aspects must be better researched, says the Brussels authority. Current rules, procedures and institutions for this are lacking.
Commission Vice-President and Green Deal Commissioner Frans Timmermanns also made clear that geoengineering should not distract from the need to reduce emissions. The only way to stop global warming and mitigate the effects of climate change is to bring emissions to zero, the Commission said. luk
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European Commission
CRMA in the Council: final spurt for negotiating mandate
The Swedish Council Presidency has prepared a final compromise proposal for the negotiating mandate on the Critical Raw Materials Act, which will be considered by the ambassadors of the EU member states (Coreper I) tomorrow, Friday. It is possible that they will already agree on a mandate then. The proposal, first published by the news portal “Contexte,” includes the following changes to the Commission’s draft law:
Two additional subgroups are to be established in the future European Critical Raw Materials Board: a subgroup on circularity to “discuss and exchange views on measures to promote circularity, resource efficiency and substitution of critical raw materials” and a subgroup on public acceptance.
The list of critical and strategic raw materials should not be updated by the Commission every four years but at least every three years to reflect rapid technological and economic development.
Aluminum, bauxite and alumina are to be added to both lists.
The benchmarks for downstream processing (previously 40 percent) and recycling (15 percent) are to be increased to 50 percent and 20 percent respectively.
The Commission is to report on indicative benchmarks for each strategic commodity in 2030.
The one-stop store for the approval procedures for raw materials projects is to be transformed into a single point of contact so that the member states can appoint other competent authorities for the procedures in addition.
The Industry Committee in the EU Parliament will discuss the amendments to the bill on July 18. The vote in Committee is currently scheduled for September 7; the plenary will then vote in October. leo
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RED III: ITRE confirms nuclear compromise
On Wednesday, the Parliament’s Industry Committee approved the EU states’ latest compromise on the Renewable Energy Directive (RED III). The vote in the plenum is to follow in September.
There had already been an agreement on RED III in the trilogue in March, which, however, was later called into question by the French government because of the role of nuclear energy. The compromise from COREPER on June 16 allows France to use more nuclear power for the production of hydrogen. Paris received a commitment from the Commission that individual ammoniaplants could be exempted when calculating the industry’s green hydrogen sub-target, Sven Giegold, State Secretary at Germany’s Economics Ministry, said at the time.
Exemption for hydrogen from nuclear power for France
Actually, RED III introduces a target for the use of hydrogen from renewable energies of non-biogenic origin in industry. However, the French government had sought a broader crediting of hydrogen from nuclear energy towards the directive’s renewables targets.
Technically, the regulation for ammonia plants is implemented by the new recital 22ab, which ITRE agreed to yesterday. “The new Renewable Energies Directive shows that pragmatic, innovative, non-bureaucratic and technology-open legislation is possible in Europe,” said rapporteur Markus Pieper (CDU), commenting on the result. ber
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New EU Commissioner for Research and Education
Iliana Ivanova from Bulgaria is to become the new EU Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Education. This was announced yesterday by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The previous commissioner, Mariya Gabriel, had resigned from her post to become part of the new governing coalition in Bulgaria.
Ivanova has been a member of the European Court of Auditors since 2013. Before that, she was a member of the European Parliament in the EPP Group from 2009 to 2012 and Vice Chair of the Budgetary Control Committee.
Ivanova’s experience is of “crucial importance” in implementing the HorizonEurope research program, von der Leyen said. The goal, she said, is to improve the performance of EU research spending and achieve a better impact on the ground. The Council and Parliament still have to approve the personnel appointment. sas
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Heads
Johanna Hans: liberal ideas for Europe
Johanna Hans is Head of Unit Europe at the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom.
It was an internship in Washington, at the foreign office of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation (FNS), that led Johanna Hans to her current employer. “I was always interested in the question of European relations with these countries during the foreign stations,” she recounts in conversation. From 2016, she was a European Dialogue Officer, and for the past year, the 33-year-old has been Head of Unit Europe at the FNS. Two staff members work to support her.
“Exciting about my work is that I don’t have a classic daily routine.” As Head of Unit Europe, she coordinates the work of eleven European offices abroad. “In short, we do political education work and we network people, especially from civil society, with political decision-makers.” Among other things, she organizes regular rounds with about 20 experts, who can discuss European issues under the rules of confidentiality of the Chatham House Rules.
‘Laboratory’ for the FDP
In addition, she shows the work of the foreign offices in Germany. She is currently planning a cinema tour for a documentary on migration that the office shot in Madrid. Most recently, she was in Timișoara in Romania, the current European Capital of Culture. There she met with representatives of the Eastern and Southeastern European country offices. Hans also oversees the Alliance of Her Academy, which the FNS offers in cooperation with the ALDE party and the think tank European Liberal Forum for liberal women in politics.
The political foundation has a distancing mandate from the FDP. Hans sees the FNS as a “laboratory for the party.” Recommendations for action on security policy, however, once even made it into an election program of the Austrian Liberals, Hans reports.
Last year and this year, the entire FNS put itself under the motto “ReshapeEurope.” All offices in over 60 countries and in Germany work on important European issues. “We are driven by the question of how the EU can become a truly global player that can make a difference in the geopolitical mix.”
‘EU must become more capable of action’
So far, the EU is still too weak, she said. “In 2012, the EU won the Nobel Peace Prize. With that comes responsibility, and that’s why the EU must become more capable of acting.” To do that, she said, it must first clean up its internal affairs. “The EU must assert its values more firmly, and it must do so vis-à-vis all member states,” Hans says. But the Union must also become more present and more capable of acting externally. To achieve this, she says, the principle of unanimity on foreign policy issues must be dropped, among other things. A demand that not only liberals have been making for years.
Hans studied political science at Freie Universität Berlin and completed her master’s degree in international relations and international law at the University of Kent in the United Kingdom. In between, she spent time in California and Costa Rica and did an internship with a CDU member of the European Parliament.
She grew up in Recklinghausen in the Ruhr region. Her father had a big influence on her politicization. “He put the newspaper in my hand at an early age and discussed it with me,” Hans says. “Most of the time we disagreed, but I always enjoyed the exchange.” Now she’s turned that into a career, so to speak. Tom Schmidtgen
