German Chancellor warns that Putin’s ‘neo-imperial autocracy’ is Europe’s enemy
Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Monday outlined his proposals for the reform of the European Union, ranging from the end of unanimous decisions and the introduction of majority voting to drastic changes in the Commission and Parliament in Strasbourg. Continuing as before “is an invitation to all those who play to confront us,” said the head of the German Government in a speech before the Charles University in Prague.
«Putin’s Russia defines itself in a foreseeable time as an enemy of the European Union. Any division between us, any show of weakness, will be exploited by him, “Scholz warned his associates in reference to the Russian president. He also defended, in opposition to Moscow, the enlargement of the European Union to territories that were under Soviet rule. “That the EU continues to grow eastwards is a benefit for all of us,” said the German prime minister. In this sense, he opted for the entry of Ukraine, the countries of the Western Balkans, Moldova and even the “perspective” of Georgia doing so.
“These days the question arises as to where the dividing line runs between free Europe and a neo-imperial autocracy,” Scholz stressed with an eye on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The Federal Chancellor stressed, however, that a European Union that has grown to include 30 to 36 partners urgently needs reforms, especially in regard to decision-making.
Caroline University
Scholz proposed saying goodbye little by little to the principle of unanimity in order to “step by step take decisions by majority” and stressed that it could start with the common foreign policy or fiscal policy. In his opinion, a growing European Union also needs reforms in the European Commission and Parliament.
He assured that he has no intention of attacking the current principle that each member country has a commissioner, but made it clear that a cabinet with 30 or even 36 members “reaches the limits of its work possibilities.” For this reason he proposed that each political area could be covered simultaneously by more than one person.
He expressed himself in similar terms when addressing the reform of the Strasbourg Chamber, recalling that the treaties contemplate a maximum total of 751 seats. To avoid further inflating the European legislature, a new balance needs to be struck, said Scholz, who proposed that the electoral votes of the different countries “have more or less the same weight.”
The head of the Berlin Government also referred to the need to also reform trade policy. “Europe must thank trade for its well-being. We must not cede this field to another“, commented the social democratic politician, who defended the drafting of new sustainable free trade agreements. “But there is one thing that is often overlooked: a good part of the lithium, cobalt, magnesium or nickel on which our factories depend so much has been among us for a long time, in Europe,” said the federal chancellor, who recalled that Every mobile phone or car battery contains valuable raw materials.
common standards
“If we talk about economic sovereignty, we must also talk about taking much more advantage of that potential,” he said, and also stressed that the technologies to achieve it already exist. “What we need are common standards for access to a true European recycling economy” and a “strategic update of our internal market”, stressed Scholz.
The head of the German government advocated closer cooperation on defence, demanded the creation of a fully functioning EU headquarters and offered a central German role in organizing air defense in Northern and Eastern Europe, the continental regions closest to the troubled Russia.
Turning to ongoing rule-of-law conflicts with the Polish and Hungarian executives, Scholz said the EU cannot offer any compromise when it comes to upholding its core values. That is why “it seems to me that it makes sense to link payments to respect for the standards of the rule of law,” commented the German Social Democratic leader.
Scholz also addressed French President Emmanuel Macron’s EU reform proposals as closer exchange with other European countries outside the EU. Underlining the lack of a forum to address core issues with those states, he noted that issues such as energy, security and the environment are of common interest. Like Macron, he pointed out that it is not about looking for “alternatives to a virtual enlargement of the EU”, but about strengthening relations with countries that do not have close prospects of joining or lack interest in doing so.
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