One summit that will focus on the EU’s strategy for competitiveness and industrial and commercial recovery is the one that opens in Brussels. Once again, Ukraine will take center stage, and President Zelenskyy will intervene – remotely – for the eighth time in a European Council, including the delivery of a million ammunition to Kiev from the European Peace Fund, trade agreements with third countries, while the migration chapter does not new conclusions or discussions, but the Heads of State and Government, and Italy in particular, will listen carefully to what the President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has to say about the measures introduced as a result of the political impetus of the twenty-seven at the February summit.
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There could be a small round of the table, but Italy is fully satisfied with the conclusions so far, now it’s just a matter of putting them into practice. And it is no coincidence that the government’s diplomatic approach has managed to include not only President von der Leyen’s debriefing on the measures taken, but also the mention of “rapid implementation” of the measures and the pledge to return to the measures issue regularly at future summits. A result that diplomatic sources describe as “encouraging”. The working lunch with the heads of state and government will also be attended by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, who will discuss the main geopolitical issues and global challenges.
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All in all, on the economic front, the discussion started at the last summits continues with broader and more detailed impetus on the European strategy for the coming years: from the business plan for the Green Deal, the Net-Zero Industry Act, to the new economic governance , the reform of the electricity market. These are questions that will determine the decisions of the EU in the medium and long term, also from a geopolitical point of view.
From what was learned in Brussels, there should not be much friction, even if the context might favor the emergence of points of national interest. Nor should Hungary, which has avoided backing a letter from the EU Presidency on the International Criminal Court investigation and the delivery of ammunition to Kiev, veto it. Some countries, led by France, want to include a reference to nuclear energy, also from the point of view of a cheap energy source that can guarantee companies competitiveness. The reference to a wide use and flexibility of available funds, returns and the guarantee that all companies can enjoy a level playing field and are not penalized by the subsidy race opened up by the relaxation of state aids.
The EU wants to simplify rules to revive business competitiveness and usher in a season of strategic autonomy in critical raw materials that currently doesn’t exist at all. Italy did not want any ambiguity in the reform of the electricity market and managed to extract in the conclusions the commitment to complete it by the end of the year.
A debate that could open up is that on the reform of the Stability Pact, to which the conclusions refer, but which the Heads of State or Government do not want to comment on until there is a concrete legislative proposal from the European Commission. What remains is the advance of the so-called “thrifty” countries, which want to intervene with greater assertiveness in the debt repayment paths that individual countries have to agree with the Commission.
On the other hand, the issue of stopping thermal engines from 2035, on which the agreement between the European Parliament and the Council has already been concluded, is not expected while talks between the Commission and Germany are progressing to be able to introduce synthetic fuels in a separate measure. On the other hand, it is very likely that President Meloni will speak on the subject of Tunisia because the urgency of this issue is so obvious that she finds it difficult not to speak about it, reports a diplomatic source, and the aim is to get the Unlocking the fund’s international line of credit to avoid the country’s economic collapse.
Not a single word was said about China among the ambassadors on von der Leyen’s trip to Washington, a diplomatic source says, indicating that the Council’s findings may be based on an individual position of European Council President Charles Michel on the initiative the Commission to reach an agreement with the US Presidency on future trade deals against China without consulting the Council.
In short, if there are no surprises, a summit is looming with far-reaching issues that should not lead to major clashes between the 27.