Dear reader,
Women continue to be overrepresented in the low-wage sector and underrepresented in executive positions – in the EU and worldwide. The EU Commission intends to change this with its gender equality strategy. This also includes gender mainstreaming: It wants to include the aspect of equality in all policy areas.
For the EU Supply Chain Law (CSDDD), this would also mean taking measures against the structural discrimination of women in global value chains through corporate due diligence obligations. After all, women in the Global South are often exposed to greater risks in the workplace than men. “The CSDDD refers in its annex to the prohibition of unequal treatment in employment,” the Commission writes in its “Report on Gender Equality” published on today’s International Women’s Day.
However, the Supply Chain Law is still on hold, and yesterday’s meeting of ministers in the Competitiveness Council was unable to change this. Despite the new compromise proposal, the issue is not on the agenda for today’s Coreper I meeting. Yesterday, the Council Presidency stressed the importance of this meeting for the law to still have a chance.
Even the last attempt to save the CSDDD does not seem to have convinced the member states this week. Only Finland announced yesterday that it would now vote in favor of the significant changes.
Feature
Von der Leyen: review of combustion engine phase-out to be expedited
Approximately 90 days before the European elections, the Christian democratic party family EPP elected Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as its lead candidate. This makes her a candidate for a second term at the helm of the Commission. “I am moved and grateful for the support,” said the 65-year-old when the election result was announced.
At the EPP Congress in Bucharest, von der Leyen received 400 yes votes in a secret ballot and without opposing candidates. 89 delegates voted against her, and ten votes were invalid. Around 800 delegates were invited, but only 499 cast their votes. Apparently, many delegates had already left by the time of the vote.
The 23 delegates of the French Les Républicains had announced that they would vote against her. The reason is likely that von der Leyen was proposed by French President Emmanuel Macron in 2019. Macron’s party Renaissance is the fiercest competitor of the Républicains. Also, 13 out of 19 Slovenian delegates intended to vote against.
Defending Europe’s values
In her speech, von der Leyen recalled “our common values”. “We believe in the dignity of every single person.” She reminded of the “geopolitical challenges” facing Europe: “Putin must not win this war.” Europe must not allow “Putin to shift the borders in Europe”. Faced with threats to Europe and the fierce war of aggression against Ukraine, there is only one correct message: “We will defend our democracy and stand up for our values.”
Von der Leyen explicitly endorsed the EPP manifesto, with which the party family intends to enter the election campaign. She defended the passage on stricter rules for asylum seekers and the containment of illegal immigration: “What we demand is fully in line with existing EU law. With this, we accept all international and legal obligations that the EU has entered into.”
The EPP wants asylum procedures to be carried out in third countries and according to the rules of third countries. To this end, migration agreements should be concluded with additional countries. If there are migration agreements with several countries, quotas should also be introduced for refugees who are to be granted access to the EU for humanitarian reasons.
Metsola to continue
Manfred Weber, EPP party and faction leader, ran as the lead candidate of the largest European party family in 2019, also won the most votes but failed due to Macron’s resistance. After being elected by the delegates, Weber congratulated von der Leyen: “Europe has been in good hands with you for the past five years and will be again for the next five years.”
Weber has been the faction leader of the EPP in the European Parliament for ten years. Since 2022, he has also been party leader. He wants to be confirmed in office as faction leader immediately after the European elections. In his speech, Weber called on Roberta Metsola, who has been President of the European Parliament since late 2022, to apply for another term of two and a half years after the election. Metsola is also rumored to be interested in the position of faction leader.
Combustion engine ban on the brink
According to information from Table.Briefings, von der Leyen has clarified in discussions with senior representatives of the CDU and CSU that the ban on combustion engines should be reviewed immediately after the election. For this purpose, the review of the CO2 fleet legislation, originally planned for 2026, should be brought forward. Von der Leyen announced this to several politicians from the CDU and CSU, as confirmed by party sources. This would provide the opportunity to overturn the combustion engine ban, which is legally stipulated for 2035, earlier.
The CDU and CSU intend to campaign in the European elections to rescind the ban on combustion engines. On Monday, the sister parties will finalize their joint election program. The EPP manifesto does not contain the demand to overturn the ban on combustion engines. It only mentions ensuring “technological neutrality” in the propulsion systems of vehicles, airplanes and ships.
Inspection of passenger cars was planned for 2026
According to EU fleet legislation, the Commission was supposed to review the effectiveness of the CO2 fleet legislation for cars and light commercial vehicles in 2026. The Commission may now carry out the review as early as 2025. The basis for the review should be a two-year report on experiences with fleet standards, originally scheduled for the end of 2025. According to the law, manufacturers must reduce the average emissions of new vehicles by 55 percent by 2030 and by 100 percent by 2035, based on 2021 figures.
The CO2 fleet legislation for heavy-duty vehicles does not provide for a total ban on combustion engines. Instead, manufacturers are supposed to reduce the average emissions of new vehicles by 90 percent compared to 2019 by 2040. The review of the CO2 fleet legislation for trucks is scheduled for 2027 according to EU law.
- EU Parliament
- European Commission
- European election 2024
- EVP
- Ursula von der Leyen
ECJ ruling on standards unsettles industry
It’s a niche issue: Standards primarily interest tech enthusiasts. However, a ruling from the European Court of Justice (C-588/21 P) earlier this week has the potential to disrupt the existing practice and affect wide sectors of the industry. “The judgment in the so-called Malamud case calls the entire system of voluntary technical standardization into question,” says Thomas Klindt of Noerr law firm. Other experts are less extreme in their interpretation, but industry and standardization institutions are visibly unsettled by the ruling.
The Luxembourg judges ruled that Union citizens must have access to three standards on toy safety and one standard related to the REACH chemicals regulation. Now, legal experts are debating whether this implies that all standards referenced by EU legislation must be freely accessible.
If the Luxembourg judges meant this, it would end the current standardization system, which charges users fees. In Germany, a package of 25 DIN standards currently costs over €1500, excluding VAT.
‘Reorganization of the European standardization system’
The lawyers for the plaintiffs, a Californian non-governmental organization and its Irish counterpart, derive from the Luxembourg ruling that all standards must be made freely accessible. The Morrison Foerster and FP Loge law firms speak of a “reorganization of the European standardization system”. However, legal experts from the industry believe that it must first be clarified in a separate procedure whether free access actually applies to all standards referenced by EU legislation. The ECJ argued that a standard is part of EU legislation when it is published in the Official Journal.
The uncertainty is widespread because globally, it is common practice for companies to develop standards in collaboration with their own institutions, for which users pay. In Germany, it is the German Institute for Standardization (DIN), widely known to the general public for DIN standards for paper, that sets these industry standards. The non-profit organization was founded over 100 years ago.
Industry fears interference in standardization
In the past, there have been considerations to reduce or waive the costs of standards for small and medium-sized enterprises. A working group of DIN tried to develop concepts for this purpose. However, these were not pursued further because the industry did not want the state to step in as a financier. There was a fear that it would then become more involved in the standardization process. For this reason, the industry also wants to maintain the current system.
In the business community, there is a concern that the European Commission, following the Luxembourg ruling, will try to interfere more in standardization. This has already been the case after an initial ECJ ruling on standards, according to industry sources. This has resulted in a significant backlog in standardization, up to five years for construction products and at least one year for other products. “The standards are no longer up to date,” says the industry. The development is “worrisome”.
China’s ambitions put standardization in focus
Behind the plaintiffs in the current case is the US internet activist Carl Malamud, who has been advocating for more transparency and access to documents for decades. The “New York Times” has called him the “fly on the internet”, and lawyers from the US state of Georgia have accused him of a “strategy of terrorism”. The standardization community doubts that his goals are as selfless as he claims. Rumor has it that he acts on behalf of internet search engines, which hope for clicks through the documents that will be freely available in the future.
Since China began using standardization as a geopolitical weapon, Brussels has focused more on it. The People’s Republic has been trying for years to occupy as many leadership positions as possible in international standardization bodies. It has adopted its own strategy to become the world’s leading standard setter by 2035. Silke Wettach
Close race ahead of snap elections in Portugal
According to various polls, Sunday’s parliamentary elections in Portugal are shaping up to be a close race between the Socialist Party (PS) and the conservative Democratic Alliance (AD). According to the Aximage poll, the PS led by Pedro Nuno Santos is ahead with 33.1 percent, closely followed by the AD led by Luís Montenegro with 29.6 percent.
The right-wing Chega party would receive 16.7 percent of the votes, making it the third-largest political force. Chega is followed by the Bloco de Esquerda (BE) (Left Bloc) with 6.6 percent. The Liberal Initiative party, which could form a coalition with the AD, ranks sixth in the polls with 4 percent.
The snap elections come at a symbolic moment as the country celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Carnation Revolution and the end of the Salazar dictatorship in April. Given the rise of the right-wing Chega, PS President Santos announced last month that he would not prevent a minority government led by Montenegro’s AD if they received more votes than the Socialists. The newspaper “Expresso” points to the number of undecided voters, which accounts for 18 percent in the ICS/ISCTE poll.
Montenegro’s promise: no coalition with Chega
Since 2022, Montenegro has been the leader of the Social Democratic Party (PSD). He is running in these elections as a candidate of the AD coalition, formed by the PSD together with two other parties of the national center-right bloc, the Centro Democrático e Social – Partido Popular (CDS-PP) and the Partido Popular Monárquico (PPM). None of the AD’s minority partners are currently represented in the Portuguese Parliament. The three-party coalition will be maintained for the European elections.
In the campaign, Montenegro promised not to form a coalition with André Ventura’s Chega, even if he needs support for his appointment as Prime Minister. Instead, Montenegro hopes to form a stable majority with the Liberal Initiative.
Chega party emerged only in 2019
Led by Ventura, the Chega party has consolidated its position as the third force in just five years. The party was founded in 2019 when it entered the Portuguese Parliament with only one deputy – Ventura. It emerged as a personal project of Ventura, who believes that God has tasked him with changing Portugal. Before founding Chega, Ventura was a member of the PSD and named his party after the internal protest movement (“Chega Rui Rio” – “Enough Rui Rio”) he sparked against then-PSD leader Rui Rio.
The newspaper “Publico” reported that Chega’s electorate is heterogeneous – what unites them is dissatisfaction with current politics. Even former communist voters would support the far-right, according to the article.
Discontent despite economic upswing
The successes of Prime Minister António Costa and his socialist government are far-reaching: a dramatic reduction in debt to 98.7 percent, an increase in the minimum wage by up to 60 percent since 2015 and a historic record in exports. However, with Santos at the helm of the party, the Socialists are unlikely to achieve the overwhelming majority of 41.37 percent they had four years ago in the parliamentary elections in 2022.
This may also be due to the fact that many Portuguese feel little impact from the economic successes. Particularly in Lisbon and Porto, people struggle with massively increased rents. Often, even the higher minimum wage does not help.
Santos, who served as Minister of Infrastructure between 2019 and 2002, aims to address the open points from his party’s program. Key focuses include the housing crisis, the problem of unchecked tourism, and the improvement of public services, especially healthcare.
Mistaken identity with serious consequences
Sunday’s elections were called in response to a political crisis triggered by an investigation by the Public Prosecutor’s Office into the awarding of energy and economic projects. The Supreme Court had initiated an investigation against Prime Minister Costa. He resigned on Nov. 7.
Shortly thereafter, it was stated that the investigators had made a mistake and confused the Prime Minister with the almost identically named Minister of Economy António Costa Silva. Despite the tumultuous end of his government, Costa is considered a possible successor to Council President Charles Michel. with Sarah Schäfer
News
Barley does not expect quick EU expansion
SPD’s lead candidate for the European elections, Katarina Barley, believes that admitting new members to the EU in the next five years is unlikely. “I tend to be rather pessimistic about that,” said the Vice President of the European Parliament on Thursday at an event hosted by Table.Briefings and the European Movement Germany (EBD). Recently, the Montenegrin government, for example, had pushed for accession by 2028.
Barley argued that it is “absolutely crucial” for accession candidates like Ukraine, Moldova and the Western Balkan states to fully meet the Copenhagen criteria. These requirements include, among others, a functioning democratic and legal system. Following the accession of Bulgaria and Romania in 2007, the European Commission had to monitor progress in judicial reform and the fight against corruption for more than 16 years. “I don’t think that was necessarily a positive example,” said Barley.
Concerns about gradual alignment
The SPD politician also views the discussion about a gradual alignment of accession candidates with EU standards critically. “It sounds incredibly charming, and some things are certainly feasible,” she said. But problems quickly arise, especially regarding access to the internal market: If companies from candidate countries are allowed to import goods without hindrance, but social standards remain unchanged, “then that leads to the kind of cutthroat competition that we don’t really want in the European Union”.
EBD President Linn Selle warned that gradual alignment must not “lead to a dead end”. Both the EU and candidate countries must be honest that “the ultimate goal is membership”.
Christian Calliess, Professor of European Law at the Free University of Berlin, advocated for a differentiated integration within the EU: Without more flexibility, the European Union risks being stretched and overwhelmed. “Why does a state that simply does not want to support migration policy have to be a member of the Schengen Area?” he asked. Such a country should leave the Schengen Area but could remain a member of the internal market. The common market is the core of the EU, “the common denominator that all member states share”. tho
Trade Committee votes in favor of another year of free trade with Ukraine
Without amendments, the International Trade Committee (INTA) in the EU Parliament voted on Thursday to extend free trade measures with Ukraine. This paves the way for the proposal to be adopted in the first reading, likely during the plenary session in April.
To save time and extend duty-free and quota-free trade before the current arrangement expires at the beginning of June, EU ambassadors also refrained from making any changes to the Commission’s proposal. This eliminates the need for trilogue negotiations. The demands of the Agriculture Committee to expand protective measures for agricultural products were rejected by the INTA members. jd
Security agreement with Moldova: France takes further step in new Eastern Europe policy
On Thursday, France took another step towards deepening relations with Eastern Europe by signing a security agreement with Moldova. During the visit of Moldovan President Maia Sandu, along with Defense Minister Anatolie Nosatîi and Minister of Economic Development Dumitru Alaiba to Paris, French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu signed the corresponding agreement. A French military mission in Chișinău is expected to begin in the coming months.
In a joint statement, France reaffirmed its “decisive support for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Moldova”. Russia should withdraw its illegally stationed forces from Moldovan territory. Moldova is frequently subjected to Russian cyberattacks or disinformation campaigns. Last week, separatists in the Russian-backed breakaway region of Transnistria called for Russian protection.
French President Emmanuel Macron said before the signing that he wanted to continue the discussions with Sandu that they had at the Ukraine conference in Paris on Feb. 26. Following the conference, he did not rule out the deployment of ground troops in Ukraine. On Thursday, he reiterated his support for Moldova’s imminent accession to the EU. “Moldova’s inspiration for its European future, as well as that of Ukraine, is a challenge to Vladimir Putin’s Russia,” Macron said at the meeting.
Furthermore, his shift to procure artillery ammunition from non-European sources due to his controversial remarks about possible deployment of ground troops in Ukraine has been overshadowed.
Originally, Macron would have liked to discuss support for Ukraine with artillery ammunition on Thursday. As Politico reported, because numerous ministers canceled, no summit took place in Paris. On Tuesday, he traveled to the Czech Republic, where he said he wanted to join the Czech plan to procure 800,000 rounds of ammunition for €1.4 billion euros from non-European sources.
However, he did not specify the extent of France’s participation. Until the conference on Feb. 26, France had resisted using European funds to purchase non-European ammunition. On Wednesday, German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit followed suit and said that Germany would also participate with a three-digit million amount. bub
Energy Charter Treaty: new details on lawsuits, EU decides to withdraw
On Thursday, EU member states voted in the Council for Competitiveness to withdraw the EU from the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT). Before the final decision by the Council, parliamentary approval is still required. With only the last plenary week in April remaining before the EU elections, a positive vote is expected. After notification to the Energy Charter Secretariat, investor protection will remain in place for another 21 years.
At the same time, new details have emerged regarding ECT lawsuits filed by the UK-registered Klesch Group against Germany, Denmark, and the EU. Klesch owns the Heide refinery in Schleswig-Holstein and the Kalundborg refinery in Denmark. According to an internal memorandum of the European Commission, Klesch is demanding at least €95 million in compensation for windfall profit taxes.
The member states had decided on temporary taxes in 2022 after energy prices surged due to Russia’s attack on Ukraine. According to the Commission’s memorandum, Klesch accuses the EU of “using the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and high electricity prices as a pretext to restrict the competitiveness of fossil energy companies”.
Business report: high margins due to the consequences of the Russian invasion
According to the Dutch NGO Somo, the Kalundborg refinery wrote in its business report: “Our financial results for the year 2022 were very good due to the high refinery margins caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the resulting sanctions and the impact on product flows.” According to the business report obtained by Table.Briefings, the refinery’s revenue increased from €2.9 billion in 2021 to nearly €5.7 billion in 2022. Profit during the same period rose from €15 million to €357 million.
Bart-Jaap Verbeek, Senior Researcher at Somo, commented: “It is precisely these kinds of shameless claims that show why countries should withdraw from the ECT. It undermines governments’ ability to introduce measures to protect the public interest and poses a significant obstacle to a swift and just energy transition.”
The ECT came into force in 1998 and was intended to secure investments in fossil fuels in the post-Soviet region. In the meantime, companies in the energy sector have used the treaty for compensation claims in the context of the energy transition. The treaty still has about 50 member states. Three EU countries, including Germany, withdrew from the ECT at the end of 2023, and seven more have announced their intention to do so. av, ber
ECJ upholds Belgian decision on cookie banners
When users accept or reject cookie banners on the internet, a letter and character code, known as the TC string, is sent to advertising partners and service providers. The TC string informs about the data processing to which the user has consented. The Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF) was developed by the association IAB Europe.
In 2022, the Belgian Data Protection Authority determined that the TC string constitutes personal data within the meaning of the GDPR. Furthermore, the association acted as a data controller without fully complying with the GDPR requirements. This decision has now been confirmed by the European Court of Justice.
Individuals can be identified
According to the judges’ ruling on Thursday, the information contained in a TC string can indeed be used to create a profile of the user and identify the individual if it is associated with an identifier such as the user’s device’s IP address.
In 2022, the Belgian Data Protection Authority imposed several remedial measures and a fine against IAB Europe. IAB Europe appealed this decision and turned to the Brussels Court of Appeal, which referred questions to the Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling.
The Court of Appeal must now examine whether the association influences the processing of personal data when storing users’ consent preferences in a TC string. It also needs to determine whether, together with its members, the association sets both the purposes of these processes and the means underlying them. vis
EU Commission intervenes in dispute between Apple and Epic Games
The escalating dispute between Apple and video game developer Epic Games has attracted the attention of the European Commission. “I have asked our services to look into Apple’s termination of Epic’s developer account as a matter of priority,” wrote EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton on Thursday on X. “Under the DMA, there is no room for threats by gatekeepers to silence developers.”
On Wednesday, the European Competition Authorities requested information as to why the US company is preventing the “Fortnite” developer from creating its own online app stores for iPhones and iPads. The authority will use this information to decide whether Apple violates EU law.
Epic wanted to utilize the opportunities the Digital Markets Act offered by setting up an alternative app store. To this end, the company opened a software developer account with Apple, which the US company then suspended. Under the DMA, which came into force on Thursday, technology companies above a certain number of users are subject to stricter regulation. Among other things, companies like Apple must open up their software ecosystem to competitors.
The Commission also investigates violations of the Digital Services Act
The EU is investigating not only a violation of the DMA but also the Digital Services Act and the Platform to Business Regulation (P2B). The DSA stipulates, among other things, that the suspension or deletion of user accounts must be reasonable. The P2B obliges platforms to inform business customers of changes to their terms and conditions before access is blocked.
Apple justified blocking Epic in the EU with previous contractual violations. The two companies have been clashing in court for some time. The video game developer objects to the fact that its products can only be downloaded via Apple’s App Store and purchases can only be processed via the iPhone manufacturer’s billing system. The latter demands a fee of up to 30 percent.
In the USA, the US Supreme Court dismissed a corresponding lawsuit. In contrast, Epic won a similar case against Google. This court deemed the Alphabet subsidiary’s Play Store an illegal monopoly. Google had announced plans to appeal the decision at the time. rtr
Column
What’s cooking in Strasbourg? Farmer protests reignite debate on industrial emissions
The Industrial Emissions Directive might trigger déjà vu for some. It involves a political U-turn, a compromise questioned in the trilogue and amendments introduced as a last resort: We’re talking about the Industrial Emissions Directive, or IED for short.
What exactly is meant? Next Tuesday, MEPs in plenary will vote on a proposal to revise the Industrial Emissions Directive, which the Commission presented in April 2022. This text aims to reduce air, water and soil pollution emanating from large European industrial sites.
Among the affected sites are animal husbandry facilities, and this is where the biggest sticking point lies. What threshold should be applied? How many animals are meant? The agreement reached by European negotiators at the end of November last year excluded cattle farming from the scope of the directive. And the thresholds chosen for pig and poultry farms roughly correspond to those currently in force.
France digs in its heels
The compromise between Parliament and the Council was confirmed on Dec. 15 by the COREPER. This made it ready for its very last legislative step, namely the green light from the European Parliament. A formality – or so it seemed.
In the meantime, however, farmers in France have taken to the barricades. When Prime Minister Gabriel Attal presented a series of measures in January to appease the anger of farmers, he promised to “continue working with the European Parliament” on the revision of the Industrial Emissions Directive. Regarding the previously reached agreement, he said, “There is no question that we will put our livestock breeders in difficulty.”
A month later, French Agriculture Minister Marc Fesneau spoke to the press as he arrived in Brussels for the Agriculture Council. He announced that “the will” of Paris was to achieve a status quo for poultry and pigs “through amendments”. This reaffirmed his preference for the option proposed by the European People’s Party (EPP) a few days earlier: namely, to introduce amendments to the agreement reached in the trilogue at the upcoming plenary vote.
Canfin proposes Commission’s accompanying declaration
And so it happened. Five amendments came on March 5, 2024, from Belgian EPP MEP Benoît Lutgen, rapporteur of the Agriculture Committee. The aim is to amend the scope of animal husbandry to reintroduce the thresholds of the currently applicable directive. If the amendments are adopted in the plenary vote on March 12, the text will likely have to be resubmitted to the Council.
The Chair of the ENVI Committee, MEP Pascal Canfin (Renew), has also reached into the legislative toolbox. He wants the political agreement to be accompanied by a political declaration from the European Commission. In a conversation with media representatives in February, he said that this option would clarify the provisions of the text on animal husbandry without reopening negotiations.
The Commission’s declaration should include clarifications on the “financial instruments” to accompany the extension of the directive’s scope to new animal farming establishments. It’s fortunate that ENVI rapporteur Radan Kanew (EPP) also supports this option. The end of the IED saga may be drawing closer after all.
- Bauernproteste
- Europäisches Parlament
Europe.Table editorial team
EUROPE.TABLE EDITORIAL OFFICE
Dear reader,
Women continue to be overrepresented in the low-wage sector and underrepresented in executive positions – in the EU and worldwide. The EU Commission intends to change this with its gender equality strategy. This also includes gender mainstreaming: It wants to include the aspect of equality in all policy areas.
For the EU Supply Chain Law (CSDDD), this would also mean taking measures against the structural discrimination of women in global value chains through corporate due diligence obligations. After all, women in the Global South are often exposed to greater risks in the workplace than men. “The CSDDD refers in its annex to the prohibition of unequal treatment in employment,” the Commission writes in its “Report on Gender Equality” published on today’s International Women’s Day.
However, the Supply Chain Law is still on hold, and yesterday’s meeting of ministers in the Competitiveness Council was unable to change this. Despite the new compromise proposal, the issue is not on the agenda for today’s Coreper I meeting. Yesterday, the Council Presidency stressed the importance of this meeting for the law to still have a chance.
Even the last attempt to save the CSDDD does not seem to have convinced the member states this week. Only Finland announced yesterday that it would now vote in favor of the significant changes.
Feature
Von der Leyen: review of combustion engine phase-out to be expedited
Approximately 90 days before the European elections, the Christian democratic party family EPP elected Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as its lead candidate. This makes her a candidate for a second term at the helm of the Commission. “I am moved and grateful for the support,” said the 65-year-old when the election result was announced.
At the EPP Congress in Bucharest, von der Leyen received 400 yes votes in a secret ballot and without opposing candidates. 89 delegates voted against her, and ten votes were invalid. Around 800 delegates were invited, but only 499 cast their votes. Apparently, many delegates had already left by the time of the vote.
The 23 delegates of the French Les Républicains had announced that they would vote against her. The reason is likely that von der Leyen was proposed by French President Emmanuel Macron in 2019. Macron’s party Renaissance is the fiercest competitor of the Républicains. Also, 13 out of 19 Slovenian delegates intended to vote against.
Defending Europe’s values
In her speech, von der Leyen recalled “our common values”. “We believe in the dignity of every single person.” She reminded of the “geopolitical challenges” facing Europe: “Putin must not win this war.” Europe must not allow “Putin to shift the borders in Europe”. Faced with threats to Europe and the fierce war of aggression against Ukraine, there is only one correct message: “We will defend our democracy and stand up for our values.”
Von der Leyen explicitly endorsed the EPP manifesto, with which the party family intends to enter the election campaign. She defended the passage on stricter rules for asylum seekers and the containment of illegal immigration: “What we demand is fully in line with existing EU law. With this, we accept all international and legal obligations that the EU has entered into.”
The EPP wants asylum procedures to be carried out in third countries and according to the rules of third countries. To this end, migration agreements should be concluded with additional countries. If there are migration agreements with several countries, quotas should also be introduced for refugees who are to be granted access to the EU for humanitarian reasons.
Metsola to continue
Manfred Weber, EPP party and faction leader, ran as the lead candidate of the largest European party family in 2019, also won the most votes but failed due to Macron’s resistance. After being elected by the delegates, Weber congratulated von der Leyen: “Europe has been in good hands with you for the past five years and will be again for the next five years.”
Weber has been the faction leader of the EPP in the European Parliament for ten years. Since 2022, he has also been party leader. He wants to be confirmed in office as faction leader immediately after the European elections. In his speech, Weber called on Roberta Metsola, who has been President of the European Parliament since late 2022, to apply for another term of two and a half years after the election. Metsola is also rumored to be interested in the position of faction leader.
Combustion engine ban on the brink
According to information from Table.Briefings, von der Leyen has clarified in discussions with senior representatives of the CDU and CSU that the ban on combustion engines should be reviewed immediately after the election. For this purpose, the review of the CO2 fleet legislation, originally planned for 2026, should be brought forward. Von der Leyen announced this to several politicians from the CDU and CSU, as confirmed by party sources. This would provide the opportunity to overturn the combustion engine ban, which is legally stipulated for 2035, earlier.
The CDU and CSU intend to campaign in the European elections to rescind the ban on combustion engines. On Monday, the sister parties will finalize their joint election program. The EPP manifesto does not contain the demand to overturn the ban on combustion engines. It only mentions ensuring “technological neutrality” in the propulsion systems of vehicles, airplanes and ships.
Inspection of passenger cars was planned for 2026
According to EU fleet legislation, the Commission was supposed to review the effectiveness of the CO2 fleet legislation for cars and light commercial vehicles in 2026. The Commission may now carry out the review as early as 2025. The basis for the review should be a two-year report on experiences with fleet standards, originally scheduled for the end of 2025. According to the law, manufacturers must reduce the average emissions of new vehicles by 55 percent by 2030 and by 100 percent by 2035, based on 2021 figures.
The CO2 fleet legislation for heavy-duty vehicles does not provide for a total ban on combustion engines. Instead, manufacturers are supposed to reduce the average emissions of new vehicles by 90 percent compared to 2019 by 2040. The review of the CO2 fleet legislation for trucks is scheduled for 2027 according to EU law.
- EU Parliament
- European Commission
- European election 2024
- EVP
- Ursula von der Leyen
ECJ ruling on standards unsettles industry
It’s a niche issue: Standards primarily interest tech enthusiasts. However, a ruling from the European Court of Justice (C-588/21 P) earlier this week has the potential to disrupt the existing practice and affect wide sectors of the industry. “The judgment in the so-called Malamud case calls the entire system of voluntary technical standardization into question,” says Thomas Klindt of Noerr law firm. Other experts are less extreme in their interpretation, but industry and standardization institutions are visibly unsettled by the ruling.
The Luxembourg judges ruled that Union citizens must have access to three standards on toy safety and one standard related to the REACH chemicals regulation. Now, legal experts are debating whether this implies that all standards referenced by EU legislation must be freely accessible.
If the Luxembourg judges meant this, it would end the current standardization system, which charges users fees. In Germany, a package of 25 DIN standards currently costs over €1500, excluding VAT.
‘Reorganization of the European standardization system’
The lawyers for the plaintiffs, a Californian non-governmental organization and its Irish counterpart, derive from the Luxembourg ruling that all standards must be made freely accessible. The Morrison Foerster and FP Loge law firms speak of a “reorganization of the European standardization system”. However, legal experts from the industry believe that it must first be clarified in a separate procedure whether free access actually applies to all standards referenced by EU legislation. The ECJ argued that a standard is part of EU legislation when it is published in the Official Journal.
The uncertainty is widespread because globally, it is common practice for companies to develop standards in collaboration with their own institutions, for which users pay. In Germany, it is the German Institute for Standardization (DIN), widely known to the general public for DIN standards for paper, that sets these industry standards. The non-profit organization was founded over 100 years ago.
Industry fears interference in standardization
In the past, there have been considerations to reduce or waive the costs of standards for small and medium-sized enterprises. A working group of DIN tried to develop concepts for this purpose. However, these were not pursued further because the industry did not want the state to step in as a financier. There was a fear that it would then become more involved in the standardization process. For this reason, the industry also wants to maintain the current system.
In the business community, there is a concern that the European Commission, following the Luxembourg ruling, will try to interfere more in standardization. This has already been the case after an initial ECJ ruling on standards, according to industry sources. This has resulted in a significant backlog in standardization, up to five years for construction products and at least one year for other products. “The standards are no longer up to date,” says the industry. The development is “worrisome”.
China’s ambitions put standardization in focus
Behind the plaintiffs in the current case is the US internet activist Carl Malamud, who has been advocating for more transparency and access to documents for decades. The “New York Times” has called him the “fly on the internet”, and lawyers from the US state of Georgia have accused him of a “strategy of terrorism”. The standardization community doubts that his goals are as selfless as he claims. Rumor has it that he acts on behalf of internet search engines, which hope for clicks through the documents that will be freely available in the future.
Since China began using standardization as a geopolitical weapon, Brussels has focused more on it. The People’s Republic has been trying for years to occupy as many leadership positions as possible in international standardization bodies. It has adopted its own strategy to become the world’s leading standard setter by 2035. Silke Wettach
Close race ahead of snap elections in Portugal
According to various polls, Sunday’s parliamentary elections in Portugal are shaping up to be a close race between the Socialist Party (PS) and the conservative Democratic Alliance (AD). According to the Aximage poll, the PS led by Pedro Nuno Santos is ahead with 33.1 percent, closely followed by the AD led by Luís Montenegro with 29.6 percent.
The right-wing Chega party would receive 16.7 percent of the votes, making it the third-largest political force. Chega is followed by the Bloco de Esquerda (BE) (Left Bloc) with 6.6 percent. The Liberal Initiative party, which could form a coalition with the AD, ranks sixth in the polls with 4 percent.
The snap elections come at a symbolic moment as the country celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Carnation Revolution and the end of the Salazar dictatorship in April. Given the rise of the right-wing Chega, PS President Santos announced last month that he would not prevent a minority government led by Montenegro’s AD if they received more votes than the Socialists. The newspaper “Expresso” points to the number of undecided voters, which accounts for 18 percent in the ICS/ISCTE poll.
Montenegro’s promise: no coalition with Chega
Since 2022, Montenegro has been the leader of the Social Democratic Party (PSD). He is running in these elections as a candidate of the AD coalition, formed by the PSD together with two other parties of the national center-right bloc, the Centro Democrático e Social – Partido Popular (CDS-PP) and the Partido Popular Monárquico (PPM). None of the AD’s minority partners are currently represented in the Portuguese Parliament. The three-party coalition will be maintained for the European elections.
In the campaign, Montenegro promised not to form a coalition with André Ventura’s Chega, even if he needs support for his appointment as Prime Minister. Instead, Montenegro hopes to form a stable majority with the Liberal Initiative.
Chega party emerged only in 2019
Led by Ventura, the Chega party has consolidated its position as the third force in just five years. The party was founded in 2019 when it entered the Portuguese Parliament with only one deputy – Ventura. It emerged as a personal project of Ventura, who believes that God has tasked him with changing Portugal. Before founding Chega, Ventura was a member of the PSD and named his party after the internal protest movement (“Chega Rui Rio” – “Enough Rui Rio”) he sparked against then-PSD leader Rui Rio.
The newspaper “Publico” reported that Chega’s electorate is heterogeneous – what unites them is dissatisfaction with current politics. Even former communist voters would support the far-right, according to the article.
Discontent despite economic upswing
The successes of Prime Minister António Costa and his socialist government are far-reaching: a dramatic reduction in debt to 98.7 percent, an increase in the minimum wage by up to 60 percent since 2015 and a historic record in exports. However, with Santos at the helm of the party, the Socialists are unlikely to achieve the overwhelming majority of 41.37 percent they had four years ago in the parliamentary elections in 2022.
This may also be due to the fact that many Portuguese feel little impact from the economic successes. Particularly in Lisbon and Porto, people struggle with massively increased rents. Often, even the higher minimum wage does not help.
Santos, who served as Minister of Infrastructure between 2019 and 2002, aims to address the open points from his party’s program. Key focuses include the housing crisis, the problem of unchecked tourism, and the improvement of public services, especially healthcare.
Mistaken identity with serious consequences
Sunday’s elections were called in response to a political crisis triggered by an investigation by the Public Prosecutor’s Office into the awarding of energy and economic projects. The Supreme Court had initiated an investigation against Prime Minister Costa. He resigned on Nov. 7.
Shortly thereafter, it was stated that the investigators had made a mistake and confused the Prime Minister with the almost identically named Minister of Economy António Costa Silva. Despite the tumultuous end of his government, Costa is considered a possible successor to Council President Charles Michel. with Sarah Schäfer
News
Barley does not expect quick EU expansion
SPD’s lead candidate for the European elections, Katarina Barley, believes that admitting new members to the EU in the next five years is unlikely. “I tend to be rather pessimistic about that,” said the Vice President of the European Parliament on Thursday at an event hosted by Table.Briefings and the European Movement Germany (EBD). Recently, the Montenegrin government, for example, had pushed for accession by 2028.
Barley argued that it is “absolutely crucial” for accession candidates like Ukraine, Moldova and the Western Balkan states to fully meet the Copenhagen criteria. These requirements include, among others, a functioning democratic and legal system. Following the accession of Bulgaria and Romania in 2007, the European Commission had to monitor progress in judicial reform and the fight against corruption for more than 16 years. “I don’t think that was necessarily a positive example,” said Barley.
Concerns about gradual alignment
The SPD politician also views the discussion about a gradual alignment of accession candidates with EU standards critically. “It sounds incredibly charming, and some things are certainly feasible,” she said. But problems quickly arise, especially regarding access to the internal market: If companies from candidate countries are allowed to import goods without hindrance, but social standards remain unchanged, “then that leads to the kind of cutthroat competition that we don’t really want in the European Union”.
EBD President Linn Selle warned that gradual alignment must not “lead to a dead end”. Both the EU and candidate countries must be honest that “the ultimate goal is membership”.
Christian Calliess, Professor of European Law at the Free University of Berlin, advocated for a differentiated integration within the EU: Without more flexibility, the European Union risks being stretched and overwhelmed. “Why does a state that simply does not want to support migration policy have to be a member of the Schengen Area?” he asked. Such a country should leave the Schengen Area but could remain a member of the internal market. The common market is the core of the EU, “the common denominator that all member states share”. tho
Trade Committee votes in favor of another year of free trade with Ukraine
Without amendments, the International Trade Committee (INTA) in the EU Parliament voted on Thursday to extend free trade measures with Ukraine. This paves the way for the proposal to be adopted in the first reading, likely during the plenary session in April.
To save time and extend duty-free and quota-free trade before the current arrangement expires at the beginning of June, EU ambassadors also refrained from making any changes to the Commission’s proposal. This eliminates the need for trilogue negotiations. The demands of the Agriculture Committee to expand protective measures for agricultural products were rejected by the INTA members. jd
Security agreement with Moldova: France takes further step in new Eastern Europe policy
On Thursday, France took another step towards deepening relations with Eastern Europe by signing a security agreement with Moldova. During the visit of Moldovan President Maia Sandu, along with Defense Minister Anatolie Nosatîi and Minister of Economic Development Dumitru Alaiba to Paris, French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu signed the corresponding agreement. A French military mission in Chișinău is expected to begin in the coming months.
In a joint statement, France reaffirmed its “decisive support for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Moldova”. Russia should withdraw its illegally stationed forces from Moldovan territory. Moldova is frequently subjected to Russian cyberattacks or disinformation campaigns. Last week, separatists in the Russian-backed breakaway region of Transnistria called for Russian protection.
French President Emmanuel Macron said before the signing that he wanted to continue the discussions with Sandu that they had at the Ukraine conference in Paris on Feb. 26. Following the conference, he did not rule out the deployment of ground troops in Ukraine. On Thursday, he reiterated his support for Moldova’s imminent accession to the EU. “Moldova’s inspiration for its European future, as well as that of Ukraine, is a challenge to Vladimir Putin’s Russia,” Macron said at the meeting.
Furthermore, his shift to procure artillery ammunition from non-European sources due to his controversial remarks about possible deployment of ground troops in Ukraine has been overshadowed.
Originally, Macron would have liked to discuss support for Ukraine with artillery ammunition on Thursday. As Politico reported, because numerous ministers canceled, no summit took place in Paris. On Tuesday, he traveled to the Czech Republic, where he said he wanted to join the Czech plan to procure 800,000 rounds of ammunition for €1.4 billion euros from non-European sources.
However, he did not specify the extent of France’s participation. Until the conference on Feb. 26, France had resisted using European funds to purchase non-European ammunition. On Wednesday, German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit followed suit and said that Germany would also participate with a three-digit million amount. bub
Energy Charter Treaty: new details on lawsuits, EU decides to withdraw
On Thursday, EU member states voted in the Council for Competitiveness to withdraw the EU from the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT). Before the final decision by the Council, parliamentary approval is still required. With only the last plenary week in April remaining before the EU elections, a positive vote is expected. After notification to the Energy Charter Secretariat, investor protection will remain in place for another 21 years.
At the same time, new details have emerged regarding ECT lawsuits filed by the UK-registered Klesch Group against Germany, Denmark, and the EU. Klesch owns the Heide refinery in Schleswig-Holstein and the Kalundborg refinery in Denmark. According to an internal memorandum of the European Commission, Klesch is demanding at least €95 million in compensation for windfall profit taxes.
The member states had decided on temporary taxes in 2022 after energy prices surged due to Russia’s attack on Ukraine. According to the Commission’s memorandum, Klesch accuses the EU of “using the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and high electricity prices as a pretext to restrict the competitiveness of fossil energy companies”.
Business report: high margins due to the consequences of the Russian invasion
According to the Dutch NGO Somo, the Kalundborg refinery wrote in its business report: “Our financial results for the year 2022 were very good due to the high refinery margins caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the resulting sanctions and the impact on product flows.” According to the business report obtained by Table.Briefings, the refinery’s revenue increased from €2.9 billion in 2021 to nearly €5.7 billion in 2022. Profit during the same period rose from €15 million to €357 million.
Bart-Jaap Verbeek, Senior Researcher at Somo, commented: “It is precisely these kinds of shameless claims that show why countries should withdraw from the ECT. It undermines governments’ ability to introduce measures to protect the public interest and poses a significant obstacle to a swift and just energy transition.”
The ECT came into force in 1998 and was intended to secure investments in fossil fuels in the post-Soviet region. In the meantime, companies in the energy sector have used the treaty for compensation claims in the context of the energy transition. The treaty still has about 50 member states. Three EU countries, including Germany, withdrew from the ECT at the end of 2023, and seven more have announced their intention to do so. av, ber
ECJ upholds Belgian decision on cookie banners
When users accept or reject cookie banners on the internet, a letter and character code, known as the TC string, is sent to advertising partners and service providers. The TC string informs about the data processing to which the user has consented. The Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF) was developed by the association IAB Europe.
In 2022, the Belgian Data Protection Authority determined that the TC string constitutes personal data within the meaning of the GDPR. Furthermore, the association acted as a data controller without fully complying with the GDPR requirements. This decision has now been confirmed by the European Court of Justice.
Individuals can be identified
According to the judges’ ruling on Thursday, the information contained in a TC string can indeed be used to create a profile of the user and identify the individual if it is associated with an identifier such as the user’s device’s IP address.
In 2022, the Belgian Data Protection Authority imposed several remedial measures and a fine against IAB Europe. IAB Europe appealed this decision and turned to the Brussels Court of Appeal, which referred questions to the Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling.
The Court of Appeal must now examine whether the association influences the processing of personal data when storing users’ consent preferences in a TC string. It also needs to determine whether, together with its members, the association sets both the purposes of these processes and the means underlying them. vis
EU Commission intervenes in dispute between Apple and Epic Games
The escalating dispute between Apple and video game developer Epic Games has attracted the attention of the European Commission. “I have asked our services to look into Apple’s termination of Epic’s developer account as a matter of priority,” wrote EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton on Thursday on X. “Under the DMA, there is no room for threats by gatekeepers to silence developers.”
On Wednesday, the European Competition Authorities requested information as to why the US company is preventing the “Fortnite” developer from creating its own online app stores for iPhones and iPads. The authority will use this information to decide whether Apple violates EU law.
Epic wanted to utilize the opportunities the Digital Markets Act offered by setting up an alternative app store. To this end, the company opened a software developer account with Apple, which the US company then suspended. Under the DMA, which came into force on Thursday, technology companies above a certain number of users are subject to stricter regulation. Among other things, companies like Apple must open up their software ecosystem to competitors.
The Commission also investigates violations of the Digital Services Act
The EU is investigating not only a violation of the DMA but also the Digital Services Act and the Platform to Business Regulation (P2B). The DSA stipulates, among other things, that the suspension or deletion of user accounts must be reasonable. The P2B obliges platforms to inform business customers of changes to their terms and conditions before access is blocked.
Apple justified blocking Epic in the EU with previous contractual violations. The two companies have been clashing in court for some time. The video game developer objects to the fact that its products can only be downloaded via Apple’s App Store and purchases can only be processed via the iPhone manufacturer’s billing system. The latter demands a fee of up to 30 percent.
In the USA, the US Supreme Court dismissed a corresponding lawsuit. In contrast, Epic won a similar case against Google. This court deemed the Alphabet subsidiary’s Play Store an illegal monopoly. Google had announced plans to appeal the decision at the time. rtr
Column
What’s cooking in Strasbourg? Farmer protests reignite debate on industrial emissions
The Industrial Emissions Directive might trigger déjà vu for some. It involves a political U-turn, a compromise questioned in the trilogue and amendments introduced as a last resort: We’re talking about the Industrial Emissions Directive, or IED for short.
What exactly is meant? Next Tuesday, MEPs in plenary will vote on a proposal to revise the Industrial Emissions Directive, which the Commission presented in April 2022. This text aims to reduce air, water and soil pollution emanating from large European industrial sites.
Among the affected sites are animal husbandry facilities, and this is where the biggest sticking point lies. What threshold should be applied? How many animals are meant? The agreement reached by European negotiators at the end of November last year excluded cattle farming from the scope of the directive. And the thresholds chosen for pig and poultry farms roughly correspond to those currently in force.
France digs in its heels
The compromise between Parliament and the Council was confirmed on Dec. 15 by the COREPER. This made it ready for its very last legislative step, namely the green light from the European Parliament. A formality – or so it seemed.
In the meantime, however, farmers in France have taken to the barricades. When Prime Minister Gabriel Attal presented a series of measures in January to appease the anger of farmers, he promised to “continue working with the European Parliament” on the revision of the Industrial Emissions Directive. Regarding the previously reached agreement, he said, “There is no question that we will put our livestock breeders in difficulty.”
A month later, French Agriculture Minister Marc Fesneau spoke to the press as he arrived in Brussels for the Agriculture Council. He announced that “the will” of Paris was to achieve a status quo for poultry and pigs “through amendments”. This reaffirmed his preference for the option proposed by the European People’s Party (EPP) a few days earlier: namely, to introduce amendments to the agreement reached in the trilogue at the upcoming plenary vote.
Canfin proposes Commission’s accompanying declaration
And so it happened. Five amendments came on March 5, 2024, from Belgian EPP MEP Benoît Lutgen, rapporteur of the Agriculture Committee. The aim is to amend the scope of animal husbandry to reintroduce the thresholds of the currently applicable directive. If the amendments are adopted in the plenary vote on March 12, the text will likely have to be resubmitted to the Council.
The Chair of the ENVI Committee, MEP Pascal Canfin (Renew), has also reached into the legislative toolbox. He wants the political agreement to be accompanied by a political declaration from the European Commission. In a conversation with media representatives in February, he said that this option would clarify the provisions of the text on animal husbandry without reopening negotiations.
The Commission’s declaration should include clarifications on the “financial instruments” to accompany the extension of the directive’s scope to new animal farming establishments. It’s fortunate that ENVI rapporteur Radan Kanew (EPP) also supports this option. The end of the IED saga may be drawing closer after all.
- Bauernproteste
- Europäisches Parlament
Europe.Table editorial team
EUROPE.TABLE EDITORIAL OFFICE
