Europe.Table Decision Brief • European Affairs

Gas crisis: Scholz defends himself against covetousness
Truss: What do her problems at home mean for Brexit?
Hydrogen: 1 billion for green steel
CBAM trialogue: No agreements reached yet
ESM crisis fund: Still no Regling successor
EU finance ministers agree on funds for energy investments
Financial aid for Ukraine to be integrated into 2023 budget
Euro 7 proposal postponed
USA: White House proposes AI Bill of Rights
Bulgarian election winner Borissov proposes pro-Western alliance
Heads: Jorgo Chatzimarkakis: In the beginning, there was hydrogen

Dear reader,

International criticism of the €200 billion package Germany has put together to fight high energy prices was heard again yesterday at the meeting of EU finance ministers in Luxembourg. There is talk of Germany going it alone, and calls for joint instruments are growing louder. German Finance Minister Christian Lindner and Chancellor Olaf Scholz have rejected the criticism, saying they do not believe the time has come for new debt instruments, as my colleagues write in their analysis.

Prime Minister Liz Truss is facing quite different criticism in the United Kingdom. The Brexit hardliner and her party are falling further and further behind in the polls, and the Conservatives are rumbling. The question arises as to whether Truss will continue to stand firm on the issue of the Northern Ireland Protocol or approach the EU. On Friday, she will take a step toward Europe – she will travel to Prague for a first meeting of the European Political Community.

Surprise turn in the evening: After months of wrangling, Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter could go through after all. Shortly before a court case, the Tesla boss surprisingly backs down and renews his offer – at the originally agreed purchase price of $54.20 per share. The reasons for Musk’s U-turn remained unclear for the time being.

Even as a teenager, he had already taken a liking to hydrogen. Today, the German-Greek Jorgo “Chatzi” Chatzimarkakis heads the Hydrogen Europe association in Brussels and lobbies for the energy carrier wherever he can. Markus Grabitz presents a profile of Chatzimarkakis.

Your
Lisa-Martina Klein

Feature

Gas crisis: Scholz fends off covetousness

The German “defensive shield” against high energy prices triggers calls in other EU states for new EU debt. Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Prime Minister Rutte reject the calls. They are relying on other instruments to reduce high gas prices.

The German gas price break triggers covetousness at the EU level. Several member states and parts of the EU Commission are calling for a new debt-financed aid program for all 27 member states along the lines of the Recovery Fund RRF.

It is unacceptable for Germany to spend up to €200 billion to fight high energy prices while other states are unable to keep up, they said at a meeting of EU finance ministers in Luxembourg on Tuesday. “If we want to avoid fragmentation, if we want to face this crisis, I think we need a higher level of solidarity, and we need to put in place (…) common tools”, said Economic Affairs Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni.

German Finance Minister Christian Lindner rejected the move. The EU cannot transfer the pandemic instruments “one-to-one” to today’s situation, the FDP politician said on the sidelines of the Ecofin meeting in Luxembourg. “This crisis is very different from the Covid pandemic,” he said.

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