BRUSSELS, June 26 () –
The leaders of the European Union will seek on Thursday to finalize the strategic agenda of the bloc for the next legislature and the senior officials who will have to carry it out, in a decision that has already arrived in Brussels – despite the discontent of Italy and Hungary – because the leaders of the Popular Party, Social Democrats and Liberals agreed days before to support the distribution of names that was already on the table at the previous summit.
Different diplomatic sources agree in defining as “stable” the distribution proposal that was discussed in the previous quote and that will mean the renewal of the conservative German Ursula von der Leyen as head of the European Commission, the appointment of the Portuguese socialist António Costa and the election of the Estonian Prime Minister, Kaja Kallas, as a replacement for Josep Borrell at the head of European diplomacy.
Von der Leyen’s continuity does not depend only on the leaders, as she will also need the approval by an absolute majority of the European Parliament, probably in the next session in July, in a secret vote for which there is no voting discipline.
The socialists and liberals in the European Parliament have assured him of their support as long as he does not count on the ultra-conservatives and the extreme right for his re-election, which is why they have set a red line that Von der Leyen does not seek votes in the group of Conservatives and Reformists ( ECR) which leads Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy and which will become the third largest force in the new European Parliament.
Thus, the grand coalition has negotiated the distribution of senior positions without taking into account the governments of Italy, Hungary and the Czech Republic, which generated evident discomfort, especially in Meloni and the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, who have threatened with opposing, although from different capitals they insist that this will not prevent sufficient understanding to move forward with the agreement.
“The EPP, S&D and liberal groups represent 22 Member States and 80% of the EU population,” a senior diplomat warned on the eve of the summit in Brussels to illustrate the “strategic majority” they form to avoid vetoes in a distribution that needs a reinforced qualified majority to move forward.
This ‘package’ is already defined by the negotiators appointed by each of these three parties, among them the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, who will not be able to participate in the summit due to the death of his father-in-law and who has delegated his representation to the decisions in this European Council in the other socialist negotiator, the German chancellor Olof Scholz.
The debate will also be conducted in parallel to the definition of the “strategic agenda” that the European Union must set for the next legislature, an issue in which countries that, like Italy, have not been able to weigh in on the distribution of positions will seek to win influence, for example by demanding tougher immigration policies.
ZELENSKI’S VISIT AND DEBATE ON DEFENSE
The summit, which will last two days, begins on Thursday with the visit of the Ukrainian president, Volodimir Zelensky, with whom there will be a signing ceremony of the security agreement with the EU, a pact that will be similar to those sealed with different allies of kyiv to ensure long-term support against the Russian invasion.
In the case of the EU, as an organization it is committed to guaranteeing predictable financial support to Ukraine, promoting its reconstruction and modernization and supporting the country on its path to joining the EU, after accession negotiations opened this week.
Regarding the commitment to military aid, the EU will recall the initiatives underway, such as the 5 billion fund to finance the delivery of weapons to kyiv in 2024, a figure that the bloc hopes will be the investment path until 2027.
However, the shadow of Hungary hangs over the military support initiatives for Ukraine, which has been blocking various support measures for kyiv and which maintains its veto of almost 6 billion from the European Peace Mechanism, the instrument with which the EU finances the support of the 27 to Ukraine. In Brussels they hope to unblock the situation ahead of the summit just a few days before Budapest assumes the semi-annual presidency of the Council.
Given the sense of urgency about finding new forms of financing to develop the European defense sector, the leaders will discuss the issue with Von der Leyen, from whom they expected a document and who will finally present orally the options to advance in this field, amid of the debate on issuing joint debt for Defense or changing the investment rules of the European Investment Bank (EIB).
“It will be a lively debate because discussions on funding are always controversial, but this will have to be followed up and the next Commission will have to cover this issue because it will be a priority,” said a senior EU official.
The democratic drift in Georgia, with the approval of the foreign agents law that contravenes basic European principles, will also be on the leaders’ table, an issue in which the EU’s “clear and strong” pronouncement is expected that the direction of Tbilisi is “problematic” and “puts the path to accession at stake”.
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