Aktuelles > EM Germany Newsletter CW 02/2022 | French EU Council Presidency 2022

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EM Germany Newsletter CW 02/2022 | French EU Council Presidency 2022

France has set as the goal of its EU Council presidency a sovereign Europe that takes its destiny into its own hands. From the perspective of EM Germany, France is pursuing important priorities in its program, which should protect Europe’s borders, improve its defense capability as well as reconcile economic growth and climate goals. EM Germany stands for a strong Europe in the multilateral world. 

The EBD briefing on the French EU Presidency, held yesterday at the French Embassy, made clear how ambitious Paris‘ plans are, especially as the overlap in time of the Presidency with the French presidential election in April will increase the pressure on results in the first months. Less ambitious, regrettably, are the plans for the Conference on the Future of Europe, which is neither to be extended nor planned with the promise of concrete reforms. There is not much left of the original impetus behind the Conference. Less surprising is the lack of ambition in terms of the integration of the Western Balkans. This is alarming, because Europe’s sovereignty is also suffering in its neighborhood. There is also a lack of ambition for more accountability of decisions of the Council of the EU, a „responsabilité democratique“ of all actors.

Yesterday’s EBD briefing revealed numerous substantive points of contact between the French EU Council presidency program and the coalition agreement of the new German government. Also in view of the close friendship, we expect a close, trusting as well as critical cooperation. The current German irritations on the issue of taxonomy show that conflicts must be dealt with more openly. Otherwise, even after good compromises, legends and mistrust will arise in Europe.

We are looking forward to the next six months under the French presidency. In our graphic of the week you will find the Council Presidency calendar with all important dates.

Stay healthy and confident. 

Yours

Dr. Linn Selle
President
European Movement Germany

#EBDGrafik of the week

The French EU Council Presidency kicked off at the beginning of January. The new calendar for the Council Presidency provides an overview of the most important dates in the coming six months | Download

EM Germany News

France’s kick-off to the EU Council Presidency | EBD Briefing: Probably one of the most important changes for European politics in the new year is the change in the presidency of the Council of the European Union , which France has taken over since January 1 for the next six months. At the EBD briefing on the French Presidency, French Ambassador Anne-Marie Descôtes presented the program of the Presidency with the motto „Relance, Puissance, Appartenance“ – recovery, strength, belonging. Initial comments were given by Anna Lührmann, Minister of State for Europe at the Federal Foreign Office, Sven Giegold, State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection, Dr. Jörg Wojahn, Head of the European Commission Representation in Germany and Dr. Linn Selle, President of EM Germany. The event was moderated by Bernd Hüttemann, EM Germany Secretary General. | More soon (in German)

European Commission decision on taxonomy: The EM Germany President and the EM Germany Secretary General have commented on the highly controversial decision on the taxonomy to declare nuclear power and natural gas as sustainable energy sources. Why the case is representative of a lack of coordination by the federal government at the EU level and how this can be remedied can be read on Twitter.

EBD Calendar for the French EU Presidency now available: The French EU Council Presidency kicked off the France-Czech Republic-Sweden trio presidency on January 1, 2022. For six months, the country will now hold the presidency of the Council of the EU, placing its presidency under the motto „Recovery, Strength, Belonging.“ To coincide with the new Council Presidency, the European Movement Germany (EBD) has published the new Council Presidency Calendar, which provides an overview of the European policy agenda for the first half of 2022. | More (in German)

More information

Our Presidency Calendar on the French EU Council Presidency contains all dates of the semester.

Check out former editions of our newsletter here.

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