EM Germany Newsletter February 2024 | The “German Vote” in EU legislation
With the current discussion on the "German Vote" in EU legislation and the parties' preparations for the European elections, Europe is once again at the center of political debate. The debates on European coordination in particular, on which EM Germany has repeatedly commented, are a reminder that important legislation - whether on the migration and asylum package, EU supply chains and many other important issues - is in the decisive phase. The trick will be to bring years of work to a successful resolution without the upcoming election campaign preventing political agreements. Germany is currently setting a regrettably poor example and is damaging Germany's substantive reliability in the European Union through its fickleness. We have been emphasizing for some time that this is also due to the governance structures of the German government and repeatedly reminded the current German government of its promise in the coalition agreement to "take a clear and early position on European Commission projects through more stringent coordination".
In addition, compromises are unfortunately usually reached in the non-transparent trilogue procedure instead of the ordinary EU legislative procedure, which is part of the overall problem and which we have also been criticizing for years.
Detached from the noisy engine room of European coordination, the individual parties position themselves in political competition. However, the EU's ability to act must not suffer as a result. Otherwise, there is a risk of playing into the hands of authoritarian and anti-democratic forces that want to roll back European integration.
The fact that the vast majority of people in Germany reject this is proven by the encouraging demonstrations of recent weeks and is a clear sign for the parties: "We are the firewall" must also reach into the European election campaign.
Yours,
Dr. Linn Selle
President of EM Germany
#EBDGrafik of the month
EM Germany News
Launch of the event series "Europe before the fateful election - the candidate check" | "European sovereignty in security policy - an illusion?" - This question was the focus of the discussion event that opened the joint series of events organised by Table.Media and EM Germany on Monday. In the weeks leading up to the European elections, this series will bring together leading representatives of many parties with experts in the field to engage in dialogue on controversial European policy issues. In the one-hour discussion, FDP lead candidate Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann MP, Dr. Jana Puglierin, EM Germany Board Member and Senior Policy Fellow at ECFR, and EM Germany President Dr. Linn Selle spoke, among other things, about the need for a common European foreign and security policy. There was a consensus that Europe needs to work more closely together on this issue. The next event will take place on 7 March with Katarina Barley, MEP and lead candidate of the SPD. If you don't want to miss any of the debates, we recommend that you subscribe to our event newsletter. | More (in German)
European Movement Italy organises Spinelli Forum | The three-day Spinelli Forum organised by the European Movement Italy also focused on the 2024 European elections. Bernd Hüttemann, EM Germany Secretary General, gave a guest speech on the topic of the "Future of Europe" at the start of the forum. The President of the European Movement France, Hervé Moritz, also took part in the event. | More (in German)
EM Germany President on the economic sovereignty of the EU | "How autonomous does the EU want to be?" - EM Germany President Dr. Linn Selle was a guest at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation last week to discuss this question. Europe continues to face the challenge of reducing its dependence on suppliers such as Russia and China while at the same time securing the EU's sovereignty in the long term. The single European market could play a key role here. The EM Germany President pointed out the importance of the EU single market for the German economy: "The single market is the greatest treasure we can raise" and is also probably the "greatest aspect of prosperity in Germany", said Dr. Linn Selle during the panel debate. She was joined in the discussion by Dr. Laura von Daniels, Head of the Americas Research Group at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), and Hildegard Bentele, MEP (CDU). | More (in German)
EM Germany's statement on the German government's lack of EU coordination | Germany's image at EU level is not looking good at the moment. Once again, the German government has called into question a longstanding compromise agreed with all 27 member states at the last minute. EM Germany President Dr. Linn Selle commented on this occasion: "The German government is currently acting irresponsibly and damaging the EU's ability to act and Germany's credibility in Europe. The German government must fulfil its promise from the coalition agreement of more stringent EU coordination combined with clear and early positioning by Germany." EM Germany has been advocating vehemently for stringent and improved European coordination within the German government for years. | More (in German)
EESC in focus on the EU democracy package with Christian Moos | With the EU Commission's proposal from December 2023 for a new directive, the EU wants to take stronger action against the covert exertion of influence by third countries. In his role as EESC rapporteur, Christian Moos, Secretary General of Europa-Union Deutschland (EUD) and member of the EM Germany Board, presented the EESC's assessment of the proposal at the "EESC in Focus" event. Moos explained that the Commission's aim of strengthening the resilience of its member states against anti-democratic forces was fundamentally to be welcomed. However, the EESC has concerns about the way the package is implemented. So far, the directive has been too vague and the stigmatisation of civil society must be prevented at all costs. The EESC will publish a detailed opinion on the democracy package in the coming months. | More (in German)
Jury meeting for the European Women's Prize | Who will be the European Woman of 2024? To select this year's winner, the jury meeting for the Women of Europe Award 2024 took place in the General Secretariat of the EM Germany at the beginning of February. The jury traditionally consists of members of the EM Germany Board and from the European Women's Prize network. We will announce the winner of the 2024 prize on International Women's Day on 8 March. On behalf of the European Women's Prize, the EM Germany would like to thank the numerous nominations from the members and the prizewinners' network. | More (in German)
EBD De-Briefing on the future of EU agriculture | Following the AGRIFISH Council on 23 January 2024, Dr. Andreas Flach, advisor at the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL), explained the results of the meeting and the work programme of the Belgian EU Council Presidency with regard to agriculture and fisheries. The programme focuses on securing the food supply, sustainability in food production and the implementation of the common agricultural and fisheries policy. Following his report, Dr Flach answered questions from the audience in the first De-Briefing of the year, which covered topics such as breeding techniques, wolf protection and public goods. | More (in German)
EM Germany presents 75 years of EM Germany logo | This year, not only the Council of Europe celebrates its 75th birthday (5 May), but the European Movement Germany will also turn 75 years old on 13 June. Together with the Council of Europe, we are looking back on three quarters of a century that has been closely interwoven with our commitment to human rights, democracy and the rule of law from the very beginning. Even in times characterised by internal and external attacks on liberal democracy and fundamental European values, EM Germany, as Germany's largest network for European policy, is committed to a democratic European future. To mark the start of its 75th anniversary celebrations, EM Germany presented a new logo on its social media channels. | More (in German)
Upcoming Events
01.03.2024 | EP-Rapporteur in Dialog with Helmut Scholz, Member of the European Parliament and The Left
07.03.2024 | Table.Media and EM Germanyon the European Elections 2024. Discussion with Katarina Barley, Vice-President of the European Parliament
12.03.2024 | EBD & EBÖ De-Briefing ECB-Council with Gabriel Glöckler, Principal Adviser in the GD Communications at the European Central Bank, and Christiane Nickel, Deputy General Director Economics (ECB)
13.03.2024 | EBD De-Briefing ECOFIN and Euro Group with Dr. Judith Hermes, Head of the European Policy & International Financial Policy Division at the Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF).
Our Presidency Calendar on the Belgian EU Council Presidency contains all dates of the semester.
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