The EU heads of state and government expected a tough discussion about nuclear power. But migration and corona will also be topics.
In her 16 years as German Chancellor Angela Merkel participated in more than 100 summits of the heads of state or government of the EU countries. The EU summit planned for Thursday is the 107th meeting with Merkel, said a spokesman for the European Council on Wednesday evening. The figure includes both formal and informal summits as well as video conferences. And now you should probably be the last on the program.
The upcoming summit on Thursday and Friday will deal with energy supply against the background of rising gas prices, and a discussion on nuclear power is also expected. In addition, the conflict with Poland is likely to preoccupy the summit. For Austria’s Federal Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg (ÖVP), however, it will only be in his new role.
Many topics on the program
The EU Commission has proposed several measures as a “toolbox” against the rapidly rising energy prices, including lowering taxes, paying poor households money and investing in renewable energies. It is expected that the summit will refer to it. Investments in renewables and gas storage capacities in the EU as well as in third countries such as Ukraine are likely to be in the foreground.
In council circles it was said that French President Emmanuel Macron and the heads of government of several Eastern European EU states that use nuclear energy wanted to initiate a fundamental debate on nuclear energy at the summit. Austria continues to regard nuclear power as neither sustainable nor safe and will counter this in this case, it said. France insists on classifying nuclear power as green energy. Paris is supported by Bulgaria, Finland, Croatia, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Hungary.
The background to this is the EU taxonomy regulation, which is intended to provide guidelines for green financial investments as part of the “Green Deal” climate protection package. Austria has had a legal opinion drawn up on this issue, which is intended to prove that the generation of nuclear power does not fall into any of the categories for which a significant contribution to climate protection can be assumed.
Informal talks with Poland
The rule of law conflict between the EU Commission and Poland is not officially on the agenda. But against the background of the tough confrontational course that the Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki is taking against the EU, the issue is likely to be addressed at the summit. EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen wants to block the billions in Corona aid for Poland until the country has withdrawn certain judicial reforms.
On his inaugural visit to Brussels last week, Schallenberg showed support for the EU Commission’s action against Poland and for withholding EU funds. The latest ruling by the Polish Constitutional Court calls into question the primacy of EU law. “Without the primacy of European law, this structure will disintegrate, which is a highly dangerous development,” said Schallenberg. At the same time he spoke out in favor of a dialogue on equal terms and against different classes of EU membership. According to a report by the magazine “Politico”, Merkel has warned against activating the EU rule of law mechanism to freeze funds before the European Court of Justice has given a judgment.
Other focal points of the summit will be migration policy – in particular the situation on the Polish-Belarusian border – and the fight against the corona pandemic. The European Union had imposed punitive measures against Belarus. In return, the Belarusian head of state Alexander Lukashenko announced that he would no longer stop migrants en route to the EU. Preparations for the World Climate Conference in Glasgow at the beginning of November and the Asia-Europe Summit (ASEM) at the end of November are also on the agenda.
In the run-up to the summit, Schallenberg visited von der Leyen and Michel and had several bilateral phone calls with colleagues, including Merkel and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte. On Tuesday he held a video conference with Michel, the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, the Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin and the Bulgarian President Rumen Radew.
Schieder calls for measures against high energy prices
The SPÖ-EU delegation leader Andreas Schieder called on the EU summit to set the course in view of rising energy prices. “Together with housing costs, rising energy costs are one of the greatest risks of poverty,” said Schieder. “In the long term, the EU can take countermeasures through measures for better energy efficiency, joint procurement and the expansion of renewable energies.” In view of the EU’s confrontation with Poland, he spoke out in favor of a “new infringement procedure and the consistent continuation of the Article 7 procedure”.
“The Morawieckis, Kaczynskis and Orbans must not succeed in establishing an EU internal opposition. That would destroy both the cohesion and the foundation of values in the Union,” declared Monika Vana, Head of Delegation of the Greens in the EU Parliament, and Meri Disoski, deputy Club chairwoman of the Greens. Vana also called for Europe to become less dependent on fossil fuels and, in particular, on energy imports from Russia and other autocratic states.
Nuclear power is “not a sustainable option for energy production”, “but highly dangerous and should be rejected,” emphasized ÖVP delegation leader Angelika Winzig.
The Neos EU MP Claudia Gamon called for a “new start” for Austria in European politics. Under ex-Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP) “our reputation in the Union was seriously damaged,” said Gamon in a broadcast. “Austria should join the initiative of the liberal Mark Rutte and clearly stand up for the European Union of Values.”
Summit format since 1975
The first meeting of the European Council took place on March 11, 1975 in Dublin. At that time, the meeting was still far from its current size. With the accession of Greece on January 1, 1981, the number of member countries rose to double digits. Its largest number of participants for the time being reached the EU summit from 2013 after Croatia joined the bloc as the 28th country. The heads of state and government of 27 EU countries have been meeting again since the British left.
(APA/dpa)