- German politicians back Macron’s Conference on the Future of Europe
- Mismanagement accusations: Court of Auditors President Lehne’s hearing
- Global Gateway: up to €300 billion for EU response to China’s Silk Road
- EU announces media freedom law and backs European newsroom
- Hydrogen Week: on the way to market ramp-up
- Network expansion: Telekom and Co demand ‘fair contribution’ from tech giants
- Andersson reappointed as Sweden’s head of government
- Twitter CEO Dorsey resigns
- Christian Köhler (Markenverband): better consumer protection under the DSA
It is the EU’s largest democratic experiment to date: the “Conference on the Future of Europe”, a project near and dear to French President Emmanuel Macron. After its launch in May this year, the buzz around the Future Conference had died down, but now the project is gaining new momentum. As Eric Bonse reports, this is mainly due to the German traffic light coalition’s plans. But positive signals are also coming from Manfred Weber, head of the EPP Group in the European Parliament and so far not known to be a Macron fan. However, there are still clear differences regarding reform ideas.
A “fictitious” apartment in Luxembourg, inflated expense claims, and non-transparent financial practices: These are the unpleasant accusations that President of the European Court of Auditors Klaus-Heiner Lehne (CDU) faces. This afternoon, Lehne is expected to attend a hearing in the Committee on Budgetary Control. Read more about the case in the news.
“Global Gateway” is the name of the EU’s infrastructure initiative, which is to be understood as a response to China’s New Silk Road. According to reports, the EU plans to mobilize up to €300 billion for the initiative. This is a significant increase compared to a first draft of “Global Gateway”, which circulated the figure of €40 billion. The significant increase could be a sign of how important the project is to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, writes Amelie Richter.
Sarah Schaefer
Feature
German politicians back Macron’s Conference on the Future of Europe
The COFEU is back. After its launch on Europe Day in May, the “Conference on the Future of Europe“, the EU’s largest democracy experiment to date, had been suspiciously quiet. But now the Future Conference is suddenly on everyone’s lips. The coalition agreement of the traffic light government in Berlin and the leader of the conservative EPP group in the European Parliament, Manfred Weber, have breathed new life into it – at least verbally.
“We will use the conference on the future of Europe for reforms,” the politicians of the SPD, the Greens, and the FDP have stated in their traffic light agreement. “The conference should lead to a constitutional convention and to the further development of a federal European state,” reads the 177-page text. The traffic light even wants to support treaty changes. This would pave the way for a far-reaching EU reform.
Weber is not quite as ambitious. He is concerned with “answers to the question of what role the European Union will play globally in the future”. The focus must be on foreign and security policy, said the CSU politician at a press conference in Berlin on Monday. Weber also sees a lot of room for improvement in health policy – keyword COVID. However, subsidiarity and efficiency must also be taken into account.
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