the 27 maintain a facade unity, and Moldova is offered a special conference in November
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz made it very clear: the 27 will have to meet again, quickly, in a few weeks in November, followed by another summit in December, which will mark the end of the European presidency. of the Czech Republic.
A new EU summit, therefore, after the one currently underway, which is the “autumn summit”. Such collective European rituals are old, even written in treaties. Each country that takes over the rotating six-month presidency of the EU organizes a minimum of two to three summits, at least one each at the beginning and end of the presidency.
The “autumn” one is very important for the country that holds the presidency in the second half of the year, but also for the EU, because it comes after the summer period when the European institutions are closed or function in a minor way.
The just concluded “autumn summit” on Thursday and Friday, October 20-21, in Brussels, was all the more important, as it discussed big topics that test the cohesion of the 27: the energy crisis, Ukraine and China.
The thorny issue of gases
It is not the first time that a summit of such importance ends without major decisions. The most important thing was for the 27 to show themselves united. So far, Europe, which until now buys 45% of the gas it needs from Russia, has managed to comfortably drop Russian gas to less than 7%.
The energy ministers of the 27 countries will discuss next week, together with the Brussels Commission, a mechanism by which the price of gas will be capped, in order to achieve a decrease in the price of electricity.
Regarding Ukraine, the 27 reaffirmed their full support for Kyiv; they repeated that the EU will train Ukrainian soldiers (including 2,000 in France alone); and imposed sanctions on Iranian drone manufacturers supplied to Russia.
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The EU will also consider appointing a special representative for the enforcement of the sanctions imposed on Russia, to ensure that European companies do not circumvent the sanctions against Moscow by using intermediaries outside the European Union.
“We are also considering appointing a sanctions representative, as our experience shows that it would be very useful to send such a sanctions representative, for example, to third countries,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. following the European Council summit. However, she has not offered any numbers for such a role, at least for now.
Von der Leyen warned there was zero tolerance for people who evade sanctions and added that those people could now face sanctions under the latest package of measures adopted this month.
The 27 also specified that they will ask China to redefine its position in foreign policy (speaking of the support given to Russia).
EU conference dedicated to Moldova in November
Finally, Emmanuel Macron also announced, on the sidelines of all these special decisions, that attention was given to Moldova, hit head-on by the consequences of the war in Ukraine. In November, a conference dedicated to Moldova will be organized in Paris, to which the president Maia Sandu is already invited.
If, at the end of tough negotiations, the EU managed to present a united front, many points remain to be clarified, and the negotiations in the coming weeks promise to be difficult.
The G7 agreed to favor EU-wide best-in-class gas, with the idea that these remain “voluntary” as well, but will cover at least a “mandatory” target level of 15% of the EU’s stock-filling targets for Winter. 2023.
They also called for “speeding up negotiations” with “trusted” producing countries such as Norway and the United States to “take advantage of the aggregate economic weight” of the EU, instead of competing in the world market with risks that fuel growth fever . prices.