On Monday, January 1, 2024, Belgium will take over the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union after a somewhat shortened Spanish presidency due to the political crisis on the peninsula following the elections in July 2023. With more than 150 dossiers to process and European elections in early June and the Belgian federal elections scheduled for the same day, Brussels must make efforts to complete this legislative period but also prepare for the next one. Interview with Sébastien Maillard, Director of the Jacques Delors Institute from 2017 to 2023 and now Special Advisor for European Enlargement at the Grande Europe Centre.
First change: January 1, 2024 – 2:42 p.m
4 mins
By Romain Lemaresquier
RFI: What challenges and goals has Belgium set itself for the next six months of the EU Council Presidency?
Sebastien Maillard: The challenge of this Belgian Presidency is to bring the European legislative period to a successful conclusion, with elections scheduled for June 9th, this term of the Presidency. Therefore, it must also lead the strategic debate to prepare for what is coming, namely the next European cycle, the next five years.
In order to end the legislative period well, he inherits the successes of the Spanish Presidency, which in the end did not lose, because if we look at the last phase of this Presidency, it was able to complete some important dossiers. I am thinking of the stability pact (the budget rules) and the immigration pact. Belgium will therefore inherit less outstanding work.
One of the big issues that still needs to be addressed is the review of the so-called multiannual financial framework, i.e. the European budget for the coming years, and also ensuring that aid to Ukraine does not decline. Belgium must therefore deal with both domestic and geopolitical issues, but must also lead the debates as the European elections approach. We must already prepare the roadmap for the next European Commission and lead this debate to really define where Europe wants to go.
And Belgium doesn't have much time. There are only three months left to complete the legislative dossiers, as the European Parliament will no longer be able to co-legislate from April 25th.
You mentioned this shortened presidency. Can the European institutions be expected to act more slowly due to the elections scheduled for six months or, on the contrary, will they speed up work on ongoing dossiers?
The best argument when you want to finish a project is to say: “Be careful, there is not much time left.” Belgium can use this to move forward if it manages its time well.
Personally, I expect a presidency in two phases: a very accelerated presidency in the first quarter and then a presidency that will be much slower, definitely much more in preparatory mode and strategic thinking for the future, less in operational mode. But at the end of the legislative period, the fact that elections are approaching is, on the contrary, a pressure that must be used to complete the projects that have been started. When you have five years ahead of you, sometimes you are less productive, so it can be a very useful presidency. But in the end the Spanish presidency was more effective than we expected.
Doesn't the fact that federal elections will take place in Belgium and Spain during this presidency also affect this presidency? Shouldn't Europe pay a little more attention to the electoral calendar and avoid such situations?
It is true that presidencies come and go and are marked by national deadlines. In France we had them during the bi-annual presidency. This was not planned in Spain, but it is true that these early elections have somewhat marred the start of this presidency. Pedro Sánchez, the president of the Spanish government, was thinking elsewhere.
And now we see it in Belgium. This was also the case in Sweden. It's not easy to get attention when you're caught up in national deadlines.
But this is nothing new, and Belgium stands out for being a founding state that is very pro-European. At the same time, it is a politically fragmented country, with a heterogeneous coalition of almost seven parties, with great divergences and different points of view… But I would say that, beyond this political diversity, all these parties have at least one thing in common: the desire for Europe, for European integration. Belgium is closely linked to the European construction and is therefore very interested in showing that it can be of benefit to Europe, since in my opinion it is Europe that unites it. He will also be able to use his presidency to promote greater national unity, which he lacks.
As the Belgian elections take place on June 9th at the same time as the European elections, the campaign will take place in the second half of the presidency. Let us hope that these national deadlines do not distract him too much from his commitments to the European Presidency.
It is worth remembering that Belgium has a skill highly valued in Europe: the art of compromise. We know that Belgium itself lives and breathes engagement between Francophones and Flemish speakers, between socialists, liberals and conservatives. Maybe you can put this legendary know-how into practice in Europe. And that is also one of Belgium's added values.