- Government leaders open the door to the EU for Ukraine
- Voluntary commitment against disinformation: DSA on trial
- Up to €10 billion for gas storage
- Gazprom cuts supplies to several states
- Michel: EU talks with North Macedonia have ‘top priority’
- DSA: IMCO adopts compromise
- EU justice ministers: data transfer pact with US possible by early 2023
- EU instrument against economic coercion takes shape
- No agreement on new ESM chief
- What’s cooking in Brussels: shaky candidate Clément Beaune
- Opinion: Why the French Presidency had promised more than it had achieved on climate
It was clear words that the heads of government Olaf Scholz, Emmanuel Macron, Mario Draghi, and Klaus Iohannis had in their luggage on their trip to Kyiv yesterday: They will support Ukraine’s immediate candidacy status to join the EU. Among the German population, however, the picture is different, as a survey by the opinion research institute Civey shows. Till Hoppe has the details.
Russia is not only waging a war with weapons against Ukraine but also with false information and propaganda. In order to better counter fake news online, but also offline, the EU Commission has revised the “Code of Practice on Disinformation” already introduced in 2018. The Code of Practice contains significantly more obligations for signatories but still remains voluntary, writes Torsten Kleinz.
France votes on Sunday, it is the second round of parliamentary elections. Nothing is certain, not even the post of Clément Beaune, Secretary of State for European Affairs of France. His main task at the moment is to bring the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union to a successful conclusion. In her column, Claire Stam also looks at the other candidates and their chances.
Speaking of the French Council Presidency: The rotating presidency is due to take place in two weeks, and Susi Dennison takes stock of the situation. In her opinion, Emmanuel Macron has promised a lot, especially on climate protection, but has not achieved everything.
Lisa-Martina Klein
Feature
Four heads of government open the door to the EU for Ukraine
It was a message that the Ukrainian president could hardly have expected to be so clear: “The four of us support immediate candidate status,” said French President Emmanuel Macron after the talks with Volodymyr Zelenskiy, for which he had traveled to Kyiv together with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, and Romanian President Klaus Iohannis. Zelenskiy reacted accordingly pleased: The EU candidate status could be “a historic decision for Europe“.
The Ukrainian president has been urging the EU states for some time to make his country an accession candidate at the upcoming EU summit next Thursday. The fact that Macron, of all people, would support his request so clearly had not previously been apparent. The French president was considered a critic of EU enlargement and had annoyed the government in Kyiv with ideas for alternative constructions. With the announcement now made, it is “really a historic journey for Europe,” says Nicolai von Ondarza, research group leader at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP).
However, the clear vote of the four heads of state and government does not yet mean that all member states will go along. The necessary unanimity has not yet been reached; the Netherlands, Denmark and Portugal, among others, have expressed reservations. Scholz knows this and was more reserved than Macron: “Germany is in favor of a positive decision in favor of Ukraine,” he said. That also applies to the Republic of Moldova. But this would require a unanimous decision at the summit.
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