REVIEW - Von Der Leyen Addresses Parliament Ahead Of Key December Summit As Budget Row Persists

BRUSSELS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th November, 2020) The situation around the EU's seven-year budget and COVID-19 recovery package remains blocked two weeks before the crucial summit of the 27 leaders, with Commission President Ursula von der Leyen urging the "rebel" member states to stop the obstruction and refer the complaints around the rule of law clause to the court.

On Wednesday, the EU legislature held a plenary session with von der Leyen's participation as part of preparations for the December 10-11 European Council meeting. The crucial summit is set to make a final decision on the 1.1 trillion euro ($1.3 trillion) budget for 2021-2027 and the 750 billion euro recovery plan to put the economy back on track after the pandemic.

Hungary and Poland, however, refuse to OK the bloc's financial framework and the recovery package over a clause that makes access to EU funds conditional on member states' commitment to the rule of law.

Another headache for the EU is a Brexit deal, which must be finalized and go through the European Parliament by the end of December. The list of pressing issues also includes terrorism, security, immigration, not to speak of domestic violence, a topic that some members of parliament wanted to add to the agenda.

BLACKMAIL IS THE WORD OF THE DAY

The keyword at the plenary discussion was "blackmail." Those on the left of the political spectrum used this word to accuse the leaders of Hungary and Poland of holding Europe hostage with their warnings to veto the budget.

But those on the right accuse the left majority of blackmailing the two Eastern European nations by adding the rule of law clause to the budget and recovery plan to potentially cut European funds for them.

"This is blackmail by the majority in the European parliament, an obsession of the Commission to blame Hungary and Poland. It is persecution. Access to European funds cannot be conditional to diktats from the Brussels progressives and globalists," Nicolas Bay, vice-president of the Identity and Democracy group, said.

VON DER LEYEN'S UPDATES AHEAD OF SUMMIT

As for von der Leyen, she started her speech with Brexit.

"I cannot tell you today, if in the end there will be a deal. There has been genuine progress on a number of important questions: on law enforcement and judicial cooperation; on social security coordination. And also on goods, services and transport we now have the outline of a possible final text. In these areas there are still some important issues to agree, but they should be manageable," she told the lawmakers.

However, the governance, fisheries, and level playing field still remain up for discussion, according to von der Leyen.

"And with very little time ahead of us, we will do all in our power to reach an agreement. We're ready to be creative, but we are not ready to put into question the integrity of the single market," she stressed.

The focus of her speech, however, was the paralysis around the budget and the recovery plan.

She noted that the EU27 reached a compromise on the recovery package at their marathon four-day summit in July.

"You, honourable members, further developed this package. The outcome takes appropriate account of the numerous political concerns that had been voiced. Now, two Member States have raised doubts," she continued.

So, von der Leyen says that she does not understand why Hungary and Poland steadfastly oppose the rule of law clause to which they agreed back in July. The two countries maintain that the rule does not correspond to what was decided in July.

The commission chief finally said that the two can "go to the European Court of Justice and have the new rules scrutinised down to the last detail."

"That is the place where we usually thrash out differences of opinion regarding legal texts. And not at the expense of millions of Europeans waiting desperately for our help. We all owe them a prompt reply," she stated.

On the COVID-19 health crisis, von der Leyen said that the situation remains serious and warned against haste in relaxing restrictions.

"With nearly 3,000 deaths a day COVID-19 was the number 1 cause of death in the EU last week. Hospitals remain under stress, and in some regions intensive care units are overwhelmed. I know that shop owners, bartenders and waiters in restaurants want an end to restrictions. But we must learn from the summer and not repeat the same mistakes. Relaxing too fast and too much risks a third wave after Christmas," she said.

Speaking of goods news, she said that the first EU citizens "might already be vaccinated before the end of December."

Von der Leyen also spoke of climate change, saying that global warming is "another crisis that rumbles on." She highlighted the EU's objective to become carbon neutral by 2050, noting the bloc's leading role in climate policies.

Finally, von der Leyen touched upon issues of security and solidarity with France and Austria, which have been recently rocked by terrorist attacks. She pledged to present a new European counter-terrorism agenda on December 9.

"With that agenda, we want to strengthen cooperation between security services, give border guards the modern technology they need, step up our efforts to prevent radicalisation and better protect public spaces," the official said.

The president also urged member nations to implement the existing "strong rules" against money laundering, terrorist financing and the use of firearms.

AFTER PARLIAMENT'S DISCUSSIONS, ANOTHER KEYWORD COULD BE PARALYSIS

One can rarely see full-blown discussions at plenary sessions of the European Parliament. A session is usually a lengthy succession of one-minute speeches by members of parliament from all political camps. The deciders of the commission only listen patiently, so that lawmakers could empty the list of speakers.

As a result, on Tuesday, all matters were touched upon with one-minute interventions, including uneasy relations with Turkey, terrorism, climate change, domestic violence and the COVID-19 crisis. The budget stalemate predictably took center stage.

In a passionate speech, Liberal member of parliament Guy Verhofstadt repeated his threat to Poland and Hungary that the EU could invoke Article 326 of the Treaty that enables sub-groups of member states to go ahead with enhanced cooperation, which is the case with the Euro and the Schengen Area. According to the lawmaker, it is "far better than to give in to the blackmail of [Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor] Orban and [Polish ruling party leader Jaroslaw] Kaczynski."

"Rule of law is not a question of subsidiarity ... So, the freedom of expression, the freedom of gathering, democracy ... that is not a question of subsidiarity. Respect for the LGBT community in your country, that is not a question of subsidiarity. That is a value of the European Union ... I am grateful for the tenacity of Mrs Merkel to find an agreement still with Poland and Hungary, but I do not think there is a lot of room for compromise," Verhofstadt stated.

According to Thierry Mariani, a European Parliament member from France's National Rally party, the current row with the "rebel" member states is the "moment of truth" for the bloc, which is also going through Brexit.

"In a headlong rush, the left-wing & liberal majority in the European parliament wants to abolish the unanimity rule on issues essential to the European Council. They want to introduce a qualified majority, which would make it possible to tame European states led by majorities which they do not like, while they are democratically elected. This is the reign of the blackmailers," Mariani told Sputnik.

Small countries, however, will resist attempts to abandon the unanimity principle, the lawmaker believes.

"Beware, the small countries understood at the time of the sanctions that Europe wanted to take against Belarus, that Cyprus, a tiny state, managed to block everything thanks to the rule of unanimity ... Cyprus has thus succeeded in advancing its agenda against Turkey. Hence the left's desire to do away with the essential rule for sovereign member states, which is unanimity. I do not know how it will end but do not believe that the rebels will let it go and they are quite right," he added.