Innovative structure making it possible to federate Greater Europe in the long term against Russia or a format undermined by divergent interests and sterile debates?
The brand new "European Political Community", on the initiative of Emmanuel Macron, brings together 44 leaders from the continent on Thursday, October 6 in Prague.
Called, if successful, to meet once or twice a year, it arouses a certain enthusiasm, but also many questions, on its usefulness, as on its viability.
All guests, including British Prime Minister Liz Truss, have confirmed their attendance.
Ukrainian head of state Volodymyr Zelensky is due to speak by videoconference.
"This is the first time that the leaders of Greater Europe, with the exception of Russia and Belarus, are meeting
," said a European official.
In his letter of invitation, the President of the European Council Charles Michel, recalls that the ambition of this new format is to
"bring together the countries of the continent"
.
Stated objective: to bring leaders together
"on an equal footing"
and to promote political dialogue and cooperation on issues of common interest to work
“to the strengthening of the security, stability and prosperity of Europe as a whole”
.
“We will have to avoid the risk of silting up”
The preparatory meetings showed a
"great interest"
of the invited countries for the project, assured the organizers.
But doubts are still expressed about its
“added value”
, confided one of them.
“We are moving from a community of values to a community of projects that have yet to be defined and funded
,” emphasizes Sébastien Maillard, director of the Jacques Delors Institute.
“We will have to avoid the risk of silting up,”
he warns.
"We'll see if it works.
Either it's a bad idea, or it meets a need for cooperation and it will have to be structured."
, recognizes the representative of a Member State.
The failure of the European Confederation launched in Prague in 1991 by François Mitterrand and Vaclav Havel is on everyone's mind.
Russia will of course be omnipresent in the debates.
The Kremlin's war against Ukraine and its economic consequences concern all participants.
But the approaches diverge.
Serbia and Hungary continue to woo the Kremlin out of self-interest and demand an end to economic sanctions.
The assembly is further undermined by disputes.
Armenia and Azerbaijan are in open conflict.
However, the political community will have to deal in particular with the impatience of candidates for EU membership.
They are ten - the six countries of the Western Balkans (Serbia, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro and Bosnia), Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia and Turkey - and
"they want to be in the family photo with the 27”
.
Avoid hostilities
Briton Liz Truss will be in a unique position.
Six years after her country voted in favor of Brexit, she does not want to give the impression that she is seeking to renew ties with her former partners.
But she wants to be present, in particular to discuss energy issues.
And London has already raised the possibility of organizing the next CPE meeting.
Equally problematic is the arrival of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
He is at odds with Sweden and Finland, whose membership in NATO he is blocking, and in conflict with Greece and Cyprus.
The invitation has divided Europeans.
The meeting was meticulously prepared to circumvent the difficulties.
The host is the Czech Republic.
The round tables were carefully organized and duplicated to avoid hostilities.
There will be no formal written results and Charles Michel will have a simple role of facilitator.
"But there will certainly be tough and frontal exchanges
," predicts a European diplomat.
"You have to create a dynamic and it is a necessary step to obtain results"
.