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The contemplative moment was not due to Advent. Rather, it was intended for a man who was an avowed European. The EU Heads of State and Government commemorated former French President Valery Giscard d’Estaing: With a minute of silence for the partner of former German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, who died in early December, they opened their summit in Brussels, which will continue this Friday .
It is their last ordinary meeting this year, and EU Council President Charles Michel has urged that they be held in person, not virtually. Several topics were placed on the agenda: Consultations on joint measures to combat the coronavirus pandemic, on ambitious climate goals, on the relationship between the EU and the US, On a reaction to Turkish provocations in the dispute over deposits of natural gas off the coast of Cyprus.
But one thing was left out: negotiations with Great Britain on a future trade deal. They should continue until the end of the week, or maybe even beyond.
Focus on financial interests
On another issue of the conflict, however, there were signs of rapprochement before the summit. In the future, compliance with the rule of law will be linked to the payment of certain EU grants. Poland and Hungary cannot do anything about the mechanism itself, but they are satisfied with the clarifications that Germany has proposed. Warsaw and Budapest were able to abandon their lockdown on the EU financial package, which foresees spending around 1.1 trillion euros and a crown reconstruction fund of 750 billion euros over the next seven years.
The resistance of the two national conservative governments had hardened after the rule of law was sharpened in talks with the EU Parliament. It can now be used when there is a serious risk that a country’s infringements will have a direct impact on the EU budget, and not just when that impact already exists. However, it is now emphasized in additional text that is only used to protect the financial interests of the EU and not generally to punish deficits in the rule of law. Because of this, EU proceedings are already ongoing against Poland and Hungary.
The objections of the two states that the EU is measured with a double standard and that its eastern part is ridiculed are also addressed. The mechanism must be “fair, impartial and based on facts”, and all members must be treated equally, the text says.
Time for Warsaw and Budapest
Above all, Poland and Hungary are buying time. The German compromise document foresees the possibility of a delay in implementation if a government appeals to the Court of Justice of the European Communities with an action to annul the mechanism. The EU Commission would have to wait for its verdict before issuing a recommendation to cut EU funding. However, procedures in Luxembourg can take several months, sometimes a year and a half.
Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and, moreover, his Hungarian counterpart, Viktor Orban, considered the supplementary statement a success in their efforts. In fact, they may interpret it to mean that the investigation of complaints that in Poland and Hungary the independence of the judiciary and the freedom of the media are restricted are not affected by the new mechanism.
Orban’s statement that the compromise is for the benefit of the whole of Europe, but very few politicians can agree without reservation. In the EU Parliament, there was immediate resentment over a possible dilution of the rule of law instrument. There was also much criticism among the heads of state and government. That might resonate next time.
