The Europeans have lifted the blockages of Hungary and Poland on the 18 billion euros promised to kyiv for 2023. An agreement was also reached on Thursday on the ninth package of sanctions against Russia.
From our correspondent in Brussels
Nothing happened as planned. At least, until the end of the afternoon. When they arrive at the Council on Thursday morning to participate in the last summit of a year 2022 which has seen war return to Europe, the Twenty-Seven can only see the extent of the damage. Journalists assail them with questions about the“Qatargate”this corruption scandal which casts doubt on Europe and offers eurosceptics an unexpected angle of attack a year and a half before the European elections of 2024. Present Wednesday evening in Doha to support the Blues, Emmanuel Macron is forced to justify. “I fully assume”, he reacts. Files linked to the consequences of the war in Ukraine are piling up, without the Member States managing to reach an agreement. “There is fatigue. Each subject is infinitely complex and commits the EU”, summarizes a diplomat. This is particularly the case with the gas price cap, which has become an endless soap opera. The Europeans devoted part of their meeting to it. Without success. “It is absolutely essential to do this before the end of the year”, underlined Emmanuel Macron. There is also, among other problems, the US ally going it alone with its massive subsidy plan. The Europeans are not aligned on how to fight back. Some – France and Italy in particular – plead for a new joint loan, under penalty of seeing European industry drop out. The so-called frugal countries – including Germany – do not want to hear about it, considering that there is still a lot of money to be used within the framework of the recovery plan. The Commission was finally tasked, on Thursday, with presenting a battery of proposals intended to preserve the “economic, industrial and technological base” European. These measures would then be on the agenda of an informal summit convened in February 2023.
But there is much more boring still, this Thursday morning, for this Union which has promised support “steadfast” in Kyiv. While the leaders were due to renew their support at the end of the meeting, two emblematic files are slipping dangerously: the ninth package of sanctions against Russia and, above all, the macro-financial aid of 18 billion euros promised to the Ukraine for 2023 which is now blocked by Poland. “We must be able to show that we are united”, loose the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, before entering the room. At the start of the meeting, President Zelensky underlined, in a video message broadcast to the Twenty-Seven, that “the fight for peace in Ukraine and throughout Europe” must not be held hostage by “misunderstandings and controversies between some EU member states”. The message is strong enough to convince the Poles to fall into line. After several hours of negotiations.
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The Europeans thought, however, at the start of the week, that they had overcome the difficulties over aid to Ukraine. After a long showdown and a complex set-up, Hungary had finally agreed to lift its veto. To twist the arm of Budapest, which refused both to agree on aid to Ukraine and on the minimum global taxation of multinationals, the Europeans had imagined an overall package. If Hungary maintained its veto on these two files, then the Europeans would not give the green light to the Hungarian recovery plan accompanied by 5.8 billion euros. And without this green light before December 31, Hungary would automatically lose 70% of the sums promised. The Europeans believed the way cleared. It was without counting on Poland, which took over from Hungary and took it into its head to block the package, refusing that aid to kyiv be connected to the global minimum tax. A “blackmail” Europeans, according to the Polish Prime Minister. By using this lever and while no one can suspect this country of wanting to default on Ukraine, Warsaw was also pushing for the release of the first funds from the recovery plan, which are long overdue, to toughen the ninth package of sanctions that some Member States have tried to water down and try to play their cards right on other issues.
At the end of the afternoon, Poland agreed to lift its veto. “She was stuck because the package was made in such a way that they blocked the 18 billion euros and, moreover, the Hungarian recovery plan. They have tried their hand at hostage taking in recent months and now know the experience of the watered sprinkler., analyzes a diplomat. And, in the evening, a hard-fought agreement was also found on the ninth package of sanctions against Russia, without it being clear what compromise was found. Several countries – notably France and Germany – were demanding exemptions on fertilizer exports, considering that this increases the risk of famine in Africa. Poland and the Baltics felt that these exemptions would amount to giving a gift to certain oligarchs. As it stands, these sanctions include banning the export of drone engines to Russia and Iran, targeting other Russian banks, and targeting those suspected of kidnapping children in Ukraine.