WANTED: European Solidarity

Nov 28, 2020 | COVID-19, Newsroom

Author:

The EU is playing treasure hunt: The treasure is solidarity among the member states, the cornerstone of the EU. In times of corona this treasure got lost because the players – also known as the EU member states – decided to go into lockdown. politikorange editor Lisa-Marie thinks: That was maybe well-meant but for sure badly done.

Photo: Ingo Doerrie / Unsplash

How a crisis made the EU forget about its cornerstone

Flashback to mid-March: Most EU member states went into lockdown within a few days in order to protect the people living in their states. They suspended the freedoms coming with the Schengen Agreement. According to a survey for the European Commission from 2019, EU citizens believe that this agreement is the greatest European achievement of all. One quote by Franc But, the Slovenian Ambassador to Berlin, sums up what many politicians from different countries say about the closure of the internal EU-borders:

It was not friendly, not European, but totally necessary.

Not only has this shown how a pandemic can drastically change the European priorities: The number of confirmed corona cases was increasing. Many people were afraid. The situation was new to everyone, but politicians had to react quickly and present solutions to the people on how to fight the virus. Under time pressure closing the borders might have seemed like the best solution to regain a feeling of control. Nevertheless, it is more than debatable whether it was really helpful.

Why border closure is not the best measure

This virus knows no borders.

With these words, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen underlined the importance of togetherness when talking about a vaccine against the coronavirus. However, what she said and what the EU did could not be more contradictory. The EU member states should have taken her message more seriously.

In order to lower the number of corona cases, it was most essential that people practiced social distancing, which is generally difficult for people because humans are social beings that are used to being in contact with others. And even if people manage to deal with that – it is still extremely hard for many to prevent being in contact with others due to their work. Nevertheless, during corona a „normal“ social life is not possible. Closing the borders aimed at preventing people from other countries from infecting the citizens in their own country. But people inside one country could still infect each other. Border closures cannot make people respect the distance rules in general – it only prevents them from crossing borders.

As a result, the harm the border closure created may be greater than the benefit: The EU member states could have shown that they could solve the crisis together by cooperation and common measures. Instead, they created not just a physical but also a mental separation. There was no solidarity among the member states but mostly egoism. This was especially hard for the people living directly at the Schengen borders. Usually living nearby the internal EU-borders is living Europe. During the closure, people there really got to feel the restrictions. It should be a top priority now to reopen the borders and learn from what has happened. It is time to remember that the European Union is really meant to act as a union to solve crises in the future. Hopefully, the EU will find and keep this treasure in the future.

Disclaimer

The supporting organizations for the production of these articles do not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the supporting organizations cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein

Newsroom Europe: Three Nations, One Result

Nov 20, 2020 | Intro

Newsroom Europe: Three Nations, One Result

 

The editorial project “Newsroom Europe”, organised by the European Academy Berlin, involves more than twenty young journalists from Germany, Slovenia and Portugal. The aim is to learn about the Trio-Presidency of the EU Council through collaboration and publication. With the project, they also have the opportunity to gain their first experiences writing in journalism.

Author: Leander Löwe

Edited by: Lisa Pausch/Jugendpresse Deutschland

Journalists from Portugal, Germany and Slovenia participated in Newsroom Europe.

Newsroom Europe began with a very intense, 7-day training week, covering a wide range of topics around transnational reporting and European politics. Together, we spoke with the Ambassadors of Portugal and Slovenia in Berlin, and had interesting, virtual meetings with staff members of several German ministries. The Mobile Media Academy of the German Youth Press was responsible for providing media coverage. Additionally, politikorange accompanied the participants closely, and provided step-by-step support in the writing process.

In the months following, four media days were scheduled to take place, each focused on a topic related to the council presidency. The first of these happened on August 1, and dealt with the impact of COVID-19 on the EU. Participants now have the chance to discuss and write about the topics explored during these media days.

The event is organised with the support of the Press and Information Office of the Federal Government of Germany, as part of the public relations work of the Federal Government, the Federal Foreign Office, and the Federal Agency for Civic Education, bpb.

Additionally supported by project partners the Centro InterculturaCidade in Lisbon (Portugal) and Društvo za razvijanje prostovoljnega dela in Novo Mesto (Slovenia), as well as by the Erasmus+ Virtual Exchange, all participants have the opportunity to publish their articles here on politikorange.de. They will be published one after another, throughout the coming weeks.

And now, enjoy reading!

Lobbyism

Avg 4, 2020 | Newsroom

Author: Paula

Photo: Kaique Rocha / Pexels.com

Germany’s Council Presidency: Between the Public Interest and Lobbyis

Paula Meister

#NewsroomEurope

A new report from LobbyControl reveals a lack of conspiracy in the European Council. The authors of the study fear that during the German EU Presidency, individual corporate interests could become the focus of attention. Germany must be careful not to let itself be influenced by economic actors during its Council Presidency.

 

Photo: Kaique Rocha / Pexels.com

In June, the Brussels-based NGO Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) and LobbyControl e.V. published a report titled „The German EU Council Presidency: Industry in the Lead Role?“. In it, the authors show the influence that German industry and lobbyism has on decisions made by the German government.

Germany will take over the role of the European Council Presidency at a special time. It will be marked by the climate crisis, Brexit, and the corona crisis. Lobbying influences will play a particularly important role in dealing with the Corona pandemic. The next few months will show which sectors benefit for which reasons, especially in the distribution of EU-wide corona aid.

Case studies show the influence of economic actors

Nina Katzemich works as an EU campaigner at LobbyControl. „We stand up for transparency and equal access, which simply does not exist at the moment“, she says. In a cross-party open letter delivered in mid-June, the Corporate Europe Observatory and LobbyControl came together with almost 100 members of the European Parliament. These members already called on Chancellor Angela Merkel to make transparency a central concern during the German Presidency. The idea for LobbyControl’s recent report arose when the organization noticed how individual member states impeded one another’s EU decision-making, evidently because they represented the interests of their country’s corporate lobby. In the report, six case studies by various organizations demonstrate how the German government has blocked EU projects in the past in favor of German corporate interests.

For example, a BUND study shows the relationship between the federal government and the automotive industry, and points out how Germany tried in the past to keep CO2 emission limits as low as possible in order to support the German car industry. A study by German Environmental Aid (Deutsche Umwelthilfe) reveals non-transparent talks between the Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy and the gas industry, the former of which planned to use gas as a fossil energy source for energy transition. A further case study by Network Tax Justice (Netzwerk Steuergerechtigkeit) shows how Germany has blocked decisions on tax transparency in the EU to protect German companies who evade taxes by leveraging operations in low-tax countries.

Industry associations do not dictate opinions

LobbyControl now fears that industry influences could have an impact on the European Council Presidency, and potentially sway important decision-making processes, such as the European Green Deal. The Green Deal’s initiative is to reduce net emissions of greenhouse gases to zero, and make Europe a climate-neutral continent by 2050.

Dr. Silke Karcher is the Head of Division in the Federal Ministry of the Environment on European climate and energy policy. „We have these industry associations and their role is to stand up for their members“, says the engineer. „Industries and NGOs are influential lobbyists, but only serve as a guide to politicians“, says Dr. Karcher. „The industrial organizations contribute to the country’s prosperity. Politicians listen to them, but hopefully only to reflect and come to the right decisions,“ she explains.

For her, the decision of the Federal Government to pay a premium price for buying electric cars in order to boost consumption in the aftermath of the pandemic is one example of how the Federal Government does not listen exclusively to the interests of the car lobby. The car industry had demanded a similar premium for new cars powered by fossil fuels. „The package for the economic upturn that has been adopted in Germany proves that at least here it is not true,“ declares Karcher.

Katzemich was surprised by this decision, but for her, this was not illustrative of the fact that the Federal Government is not influenced by the automotive industry. „We see this with pleasure and as an achievement of civil society that has put pressure and in the end was understood by the politicians,“ says Katzemich.

Intransparency of the European Council

A major problem for LobbyControl is the non-transparent way in which the European Council works. They demand a lobby register – specifically, that meetings of ministers with lobbyists should be published. According to LobbyControl, around 25,000 lobbyists with an annual budget of 1.5 billion euros directly and indirectly influence EU governing institutions.

Not everything is black and white, of course, and companies do create important jobs. „But they have powerful arguments that do not fit in with the common good“, explains Katzemich. The work of the EU Commission and EU Parliament has become more transparent in recent years, but large, corporate interest groups still maintain greater influence over the Council, and that influence is largely unobserved by civil society.

Dr. Susanne Hegels is Head of Unit for the German EU Council Presidency at the Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy. She considers the fears of LobbyControl to be exaggerated, but sees the need for more transparency at the European level. „We talk to representatives from the industry and listen to what they want. But that does not mean that we do exactly what they want and are not able to think what is right and what is in the general interest at the same time“, explains Hegels.

„The truth is that Germany does not have a very strong lobby register“, she adds. There is already a provision that a common transparency register of the European Union should be introduced voluntarily. Currently, it is failing due to several legal problems. However, as of January, the permanent representation of Germany in Brussels publishes all meetings of their ambassadors.

Under public observation

Even if Germany has been guided by lobbying interests in the past, this does not necessarily mean that nothing will change during this Council Presidency. Germany could seize the opportunity to set a good example. Above all, Katzemich wants to bring the work of the European Council and its functioning closer to the citizens: „We want the public to take a closer look so that the Federal Government is now more closely scrutinized in its handling of the climate crisis and the distribution of the Federal Government’s funds.“

 

Disclaimer

The supporting organizations for the production of these articles do not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the supporting organizations cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein