How can the European Union rethink its influence? How can it maintain its force of attraction, in the face of the ferocious appetite of powers such as Russia or China, but without activating the prospect of membership? It is the squaring of the circle that will occupy the minds, during the major pan-European summit organized this Thursday, October 6 by the Czech Republic, at the helm of the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU.
In all, 44 states with a very heterogeneous profile will work on the broad notion of “European Political Community” (EPC). On the program: plenary session, round tables, bilateral meetings and closing dinner.
“Questions of common interest”
This denomination was used for the first time by Emmanuel Macron on May 9 for Europe Day. It was to find “a new space” for the Ukraine at war and for the candidates for the EU, with the aim of not discouraging them, while the French president was drawing a rather distant horizon of integration.
In the end, the gathering also includes the Union’s partners (Switzerland, Norway, United Kingdom, Iceland, etc.) who do not wish to join the European club. Difficult to fix a very precise reason for the appointment, with an invitation list which includes both the Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia), Moldova, Georgia, Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan or Liechtenstein. Difficult to agree on an ideological base or values. We only know that the CPE will be called upon to meet once or twice a year, and that it must address the “matters of common interest” as “strengthening the security, stability and prosperity of the European continent”.
Different priorities
It was logical to see differences of conception appear on this platform of political dialogue and cooperation. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has indeed taken over the name “European Political Community”, during a major speech on the future of Europe given in Prague on 1 September. It was, however, to defend an enlargement of the European Union towards the east that Paris does not wish to rush, and to defeat “the confused tangle” multi-speed Europe wanted by the Élysée.
The countries of central and eastern Europe are vigilant for the same reasons, underlines Lukas Macek, director of the Sciences Po campus in Dijon. “I think they have now embraced the idea of a pan-European exchange forum. But their first perception of Emmanuel Macron’s proposal was that of a new siding, in memory of the European Confederation of François Mitterrand, in 1989 (1)”.
“It’s a bit like a Spanish inn”
Some of those who will make the trip are skeptical, like a United Kingdom fresh out of the Union. “My preference is to rely on structures that already exist and are working successfully, whether it’s the G7 or NATO”, warned Liz Truss. The CPE is not intended to become a new international organization that would subsist, for example, in the Council of Europe. If the British Prime Minister intends to participate, it is to talk about energy and migration, two themes which are also among her priorities.
“It’s a bit of a Spanish inn, everyone sees what they would like to put there. This is a first round of table before arriving at renewing the traditional tools of influence of the EU “emphasizes Cédric Pellen, specialist in European integration at the University of Strasbourg.
Coordination exercise
Today the « soft power » European Union consists in asking countries to bring them into line with the Community acquis, in exchange for financial resources or commercial agreements. This is how pre-accession funds are mobilized for EU candidates, and association agreements have been established within the framework of the Eastern Partnership, or the European Free Trade Association.
An essential link is missing, believes Cédric Pellen. “It is the historic weakness of the EU that it has not been able so far to forge a real common external interest. » The pan-European event, failing to flush out a large number of common positions at 44 that the EU has a hard time finding at 27, could find a virtue in a simple coordination exercise. To prevent the continent from cracking under the weight of regional groups that have become too heavy. Or that it tears due to bilateral intrusions from other superpowers.
