[ad_1]
Thursday night in Brussels lasted until midnight, with no clear signs of an imminent end to the latest EU summit for the 27 EU countries this year.
By then, they had already been sitting on the benches since 1 p.m. Thursday.
The remaining problems were partly climate change and partly the relationship with Turkey.
On the last issue, leaders were able to agree from the outset on sanctions against individual Turkish executives.
– The measures chosen are that sanctions are imposed on people and that decisions can be made on new measures if Turkey continues its search (for oil and gas outside of Cyprus), says a diplomat with a view to negotiations to the AFP news agency .
Greece and Cyprus pushed with all their might for the rest of the EU to score as hard as possible against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his regime. The governments of Athens and Nicosia have considered that the proposed wording on seeking better coordination with the United States in the future and calling on the Cabinet to present more Turkish officials who may be subject to sanctions has been deemed too weak.
The discussion on emissions has stalled
It’s true that summit sources said early Thursday that leaders are “broadly in agreement” on the proposed goal of cutting emissions by 2030 by “at least 55 percent,” compared to 1990 levels.
However, the discussion has been bogged down in the details, with Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic in particular calling for wording to guarantee the use of nuclear power and natural gas.
At midnight, leaders continued to await the promised Brexit review after Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s dinner with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday.
Budget in port
What EU leaders still managed to do was finally reach an agreement on the next long-term budget and strong support from the EU crown.
“Europe moves forward! 1.8 trillion euros to support our recovery,” von der Leyen tweeted after Hungary and Poland agreed to lift their blocking veto.
The joy of the budget, however, is marred by really mixed opinions about what it was really like when the two reluctant countries switched. Were Hungary and Poland going to meet for fear of losing much support? Or was it, on the contrary, the majority EU that gave in to implement its budget?
Satisfied Löfven
Prime Minister Stefan Löfven (S) is one of those satisfied.
“For the first time since the EU was formed, a link is now being made between the principles of the rule of law and the payment of money. It is historic and a great success for Sweden that it has driven it for several years,” Löfven writes in a text message to TT from inside the summit. .
The compromise reached is, among other things, that a declaration must be requested from the Court of Justice of the European Communities before the new rule of law enters into force. Thus, the introduction will be delayed, which has been interpreted as a concession to the two veto-threatening countries, which have parliamentary elections in the coming years.
Poland has already announced that it will take the new rules to court to see if they comply with EU constitutions.
“The text applies”
However, Löfven emphasizes that there will be no changes to the rules that Hungary and Poland have so strongly opposed.
– That text applies. It has not been modified for your purpose. There, Poland and Hungary have had to accept this text that has been agreed by the parliament and the Council of Ministers, Löfven said at a press conference with Swedish journalists before the start of the summit.
Before the long-term budget can come into force, final approval from the European Parliament is now also required, which is expected to vote on the matter next week.
On Friday, the EU summit will end with discussions on the fight against terrorism and economic cooperation in the eurozone.
Victor Nummelin / TT
At a marathon meeting last summer, EU heads of state and government agreed on a major crown support package of € 750 billion and the Union’s upcoming long-term budget, totaling 1,074,400. million euros in 2021-27.
The deal means, among other things, that the money will be jointly borrowed to support the crown and then jointly repaid until 2058. The deal also includes a system to prevent EU funds from being paid to countries that they do not follow the basic rule of law and democracy.
However, approval of the deal has been delayed since Poland and Hungary long opposed the negotiated rule of law. However, after the two countries end their lockdown, a final green light from the European Parliament will open next week.
[ad_2]
