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EU crises: German ambassador warns of polexit and trade war with Great Britain

2021-11-19T13:21:44.314Z


Crisis on the border with Belarus, conflict with Warsaw, trouble with Brexit: EU ambassador Michael Clauss warns the future federal government, according to SPIEGEL, in a fire letter to neglect European policy.


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German EU Ambassador Clauss: Brand letter to Berlin

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Bernd von Jutrczenka / picture alliance

The German ambassador to the EU, Michael Clauss, warns the future federal government against putting important European political issues on the back burner. Precisely in the phase in which Berlin is only able to act to a limited extent, "we are experiencing an accumulation of critical issues in Brussels," wrote Clauss to the Foreign Office last week, according to information from SPIEGEL. In the dispute over energy prices and migration, no solutions are in sight, the conflict with Poland could, in the worst case, end in a Polexit, and a trade war with Great Britain threatened.

The rapid rise in energy prices triggered a "massive dispute over the correct answer," writes Clauss.

The EU is falling into three camps: The North sees no market failure and therefore no need for action, the South and France are demanding financial aid and a restructuring of the internal energy market, Eastern Europe blames the EU's climate protection measures for the problems.

The subject will occupy the summit of the heads of state and government in mid-December, but "there is no sign of an agreement," warns Clauss.

The situation has proceeded in such a way that the “Fit for 55” climate protection package - according to Clauss the “by far the most powerful legislative project” of the EU Commission of this decade - is unlikely to be reached in the first half of 2022, even under France's EU Council Presidency may be.

However, France will probably be successful if it tries to promote nuclear power in the EU "as the green energy of the future".

This is "either supported by the large majority of the member states or is acceptable to them," said Clauss.

Chancellor Angela Merkel recently admitted that Germany could no longer prevent nuclear power from being classified as a green technology.

Isolate yourself or stay open in principle?

The issue of migration, which is likely to appear on the summit agenda due to the crisis on the Belarusian-Polish border, is also looming.

Clauss sees the problem in the fact that it is not a question of money, but rather "the fundamental political question of whether the EU should seal itself off from migrants and refugees or remain open in principle."

Here, too, an agreement is »not in sight«.

This also applies to the rule of law conflict with Poland.

The judgment of the Polish Constitutional Court, which put national law over European law, had "massively escalated" the conflict with the EU.

The EU Commission is currently refusing to pay out 37 billion euros from the Corona reconstruction fund to Poland.

Warsaw then threatened to block the EU on important projects, said Clauss.

The Polish approach "shakes the foundations of the EU" and is "unacceptable", on the other hand an "uncontrollable dynamic" threatens that could even lead to Poland leaving the EU.

The UK continues to cause the EU problems despite Brexit.

It is becoming increasingly clear that London does not want to implement the Northern Ireland Protocol negotiated with the EU.

"The question of possible retaliatory measures arises for the EU," said Clauss.

"A trade war no longer seems to be ruled out."

Coalition agreement should contain "commitment to federal Europe"

It is by no means certain whether the ambassador's warning will be heard in Berlin.

"The EU was practically non-existent in the federal election campaign," says Damian Boeselager, Member of the European Parliament for the Volt party.

"One had the feeling that Germany was not in the middle of Europe, but floating alone through space." But the parties do not even dare to face the major challenges - such as the question of joint debt between the EU countries and a European finance minister to talk, «says Boeselager.

Franziska Brantner, Member of the Green Party, calls on the future federal government to act more decisively.

"Many unsolved, repeatedly postponed challenges at the European level lead to an almost permanent crisis mode," says Brantner.

"The task of the traffic light is to turn it on at full speed."

After all, Berlin's view of Europe seems to be changing.

According to the current status, the coalition agreement of the traffic light parties should even "contain an express commitment to a federal Europe," as one negotiator said.

"Berlin politics is only slowly learning that it is not the center of the world - but it is learning," says Jens Geier, head of the SPD group in the EU Parliament and one of the negotiators at the Berlin talks.

It is true that "it is still a long way from being able to treat Europe as its significance would require".

Compared to the negotiations for the grand coalition of 2017, there is "a difference like day and night," says Geier.

"The parties agree that it should no longer be the German point of view not to have one."

Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2021-11-19

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